If you expect EFI conversion to cost "couple grand" you're only about halfway there...especially if you're not installing yourself. It's hard to even get all the necessary parts for $2K, plus labor, plus tuning time.

I'm not sure what state of repair your car is in, but if it all is relatively good and new from a mechanical/electrical standpoint, I'd recommend giving serious consideration to investing in a dyno re-tune from an EXPERIENCED dyno operator/tuner. It will be much much cheaper than an EFI conversion, and likely be more turn-key reliable in the long run.

Your car likely just needs a proper tune-up and little more. And tuning to factory service manual carb & timing specs is a big mistake these days, because modern fuels have made almost 100% of those specs obsolete and incorrect. It's extremely unfortunate that a service-manual-tune-up is exactly what most hobbiest and professional mechanics still do to these old cars, while not even realizing it is a mistake.

If the basics are all there...solid motor with appropriate compression ratio that passes leak-down tests and cools properly, properly adjusted points (or points elimination conversion), and ignition system in excellent condition (non-worn distributor bushings, non-stretched timing chain, good cap/rotor/plugs, and proper fuel line routing and carb heat isolation, no air leaks, good vacuum system), then all you probably just need some relatively simple carb modifications in conjunction with a distributor re-curve (grind weights or replace them) to dial it in to run right on today's pump gas. I'd guess you'll spend $400 to $500 maybe for a full day session with a good tuner to get it running perfect? This would be the single best investment most vintage car owners never seem to make...

And if you're missing any of those underyling things, you'll need to address all those basics first anyway, if/before you decide to do an EFI conversion. And getting it dialed in properly after install will likely cost nearly another $400 to $500 worth of tuning anyway if you don't have the knowledge to get the A/F ratio dialed in yourself.

I honestly believe there is nothing wrong with EFI conversions...when set up properly, they're awesome. But they can also be a bigger headache to get set up than what you already have. I believe you could save a legitimate $3,000 to $4,000 and meet all your objectives with a carburetor, while also preserving more of the value of the car. EFI will add zero value to the car, and likely will detract from it...further increasing your overall cost.

Purists here will strangle me for suggesting this...but if EFI is mandatory for you, I'd be more inclined to give serious consideration to a complete heart transplant...gut the 326 outta there and put in a modern motor and all the electronics from a Chebby pickup or something like that...an LS conversion. It wouldn't cost that much more than an EFI conversion on your old Pontiac engine, and it'll be factory designed to run on EFI, lighter, pre-tuned, and every modern mechanic would know how to fix it.