Blurr,
I agree with the stay stock posts for your issue here.
Switching carbs & intakes will only feel worth it if you plan more work on the engine and then your first step might be to get a 250 or 292 under the hood anyway.
$100 isnt much for a rebuild carb if they guarantee it.
Or, look around the swap meets, for $10-$20 you can find some pretty nice BC or BV carbs.
Try a DIFFERENT carb - then throw a $20 kit in it and see what ya got. Small investment!
Keep that 194 stock carb size, good on gas, etc
The 5200 Weber progressive 2v would be a little better on mileage, I'd guess 1-2mpg, and on power, about a 5hp increase. At the drag strip, you might be a carlength or so faster. Is that really a goal?
You could use the larger 292cid carb and get the same increase, but since it's all in 1 barrel it will BOG that little 194 down low, I've done this so dont bother.