To make N/A power, you'll need airflow, and it will be nothing short of costing a fortune. Sure, you can do those little bolt ons, but the head and cam will still be choking the engine and keeping you at around 120-130hp. It will take a whole combination to make good N/A power... ported head (or esslinger head), lopey cam, long tube header, offy intake and carb would make very nice power and the stock bottom end would take it for a while, assuming you don't exceed 6500rpm very often.
I played with NA stuff for a while too. I had a shaved head (for ~10.5:1 compression), 220-220 @.05 cam, long tube header, no cats, CAI and some other little parts and was still running low 18s at 76mph.
Part of my problem was the automatic and I couldn't get into the power band until 100' down the track, but the mph was still crap. Then I sprayed a dry 70 shot and dropped it to low 16s at 81-82mph. Still painfully slow! An all out N/A 2.3 setup from esslinger costing 10k$ would probably run slightly faster, but would still be stuck in the 15's probably. Those parts are for racing in a specific class, usually on a tight dirt track.
Then, I went to a basically stock turbo setup. I went very low 15s at 93mph which was enough to give some stock 5.0s a hard time. Some more tweaking with the same basic turbo setup and I was ran a high 12 at 106mph... 03/04 cobras watch out.
Last fall, I sprayed a 40 shot and went 12.2@111.. all with a basically stock turbo setup.
As you can see, the NA 2.3 is a bit useless. Sure, it's fun and cheap to play around with the part that you are, but gets expensive fast when you stat talking about ported heads, big valves and lopey cams. Go with a cheap turbo setup and don't look back! If you want NA power, get a V8.
Having said all that, I don't regret playing with my NA 2.3. I learned so much and had fun doing it. There is something about driving a slow car fast that makes it fun. If you wondering about the next modification, I personally recommend shaving the head for about 10:1 compression, a mild cam (the Ranger roller doesn't count) and a light port and valve job while the head is off.