I don't think there is anybody on this board that hasn't started out in the same situation of learning, so no need to be sorry about wanting to learn. Anyway to say the least you are a little bit limited to power boosters for the 6cyl you have. But for a small investment I think your best bet would be to do a good tune-up(new plugs, good set of wires etc.) Set the timing up a few degrees and run some high octane gas, new air filter too. The best seat of the pants improvement would be to change to a lower rear end gear, say you have a 2.79 in it now, try and find a 3.50 or something close. This will improve quickness from dead stop through all the gears. Of course this also will cause the engine to turn more RPM's at highway speed and use more fuel but we just can't seem to have it both ways. If you have a C4 trans, a good shift improver kit in the valve body will also help. All this can be done by you, the public librarys have a lot of useful info on this stuff and it's free. Check out some other Ford web sites too. Good luck and keep us informed on progress.