Holley makes a nice aluminum heat shield with the spacer. I had to use a smaller spacer that I got form 4 seconds flat since I have the 514. Since I put in a smaller spacer, I had to cut holes for the accelerator pumps. You can see in the picture.
How much gas did you have in your car when it died under hard acceleration? I had this problem. I went through everything on the car. I found that with a 1/3 of a tank of gas or less( about 3 1/2" of gas in a 7 1/2" deep tank), the fuel pump would suck air under hard acceleration. With the shape of the tank, all the gas rushes up the back and leaves the suction line sucking air. It happened to me on the freeway again the other day. So I let the car coast while the electric fuel pump fills the bowls and fire it back up. Some day I will change the tank pickup.
Scott