Track prep?..plugs, timming, tires, ect..

Ok well I have my car almost ready to go back to the track and the first time I went with this car I was extremely dissapointed with my times. My best run was in the sig and that was pretty much stock. The car has a fiberglass hood and 3:73's. I think that the gears were only hurting me because no matter how easy I was it just sat and spun off the line (street tires)...The weather that day and overall were about the worse conditions you can have at a track..My first pass was like a 3.0 60' I felt like I was spinning on ice...also my 2nd gear syncro was shot so going into 2nd was extremly slow

Well since then I have made a few small changes that I hope to see a low 14 sec pass and maybe hit some 13's... I put in a new z-spec t-5, kc clutch, pro 5.0, killed all the smog/AC, put an o/r h-pipe, shorty headers, new water pump, and plan on getting some 555r's so i can hook..

I think the car feels a LOT better and pulls overall a bit better than before. It's nothing crazy but I can deffently tell the improvements..

What I need to know beofore I go in the next 2 weeks should I have the timming checked and maybe bumped to 12*? I would also like to change out the plugs to somthing good for my near stock set-up and how exactly to set the gap.

I don't want go and see high 14's again and I think my bigest problem was due to no traction. I want somthing that I can drive on the street and will last, but when I need them to get a bit sticky I can heat them up and go. I had a 2005 GTO that I was cutting 2.0's with the stock tires and I switched out to the M/T's 275 and holly cow did they get sticky. The car went right to 1.8's and that was IRS...

Any tips to get the most out of my near stock power 5.0...

I forgot to mention I have a good deal comming from ebay on a 70mm throttle body and a larger mass air. Now before I get flammed that due to the stock upper/lower and the stock heads that it's not worth it...I want to see the difference myself..

The stock mass air is tiny and can only be hurting (what is it like 50mm??). My question is can I take the top part of the stock mass air and swap it with the 76mm so it will still be calabrated for the stock 19#er's?

I also don't have have smog so is it worth getting a spacer to delete the egr plat? Or should I keep it and put the 70mm egr plate that im getting in the deal also..
Basic questions I know but if doing this mean I will squeez out a few more ponies from my 5.0 than I'm gonna do it...