Thanks for the responses, no there is a big drop in decibels when the cold start is off and I think IP Timing is working fine. Just didn't know if maybe there was like an intake manifold w/ baffles or something that I could bolt on and make the engine a little less noisy.
As far as power goes, this old truck will get me to 70 pretty quick and that is plenty for me and is geared so low that everything pulled so far has been "piece of pie".
And the durability of the engine seems to be great, had it parked on an odd incline and somehow rainwater traced it way through the intake into the cylinders of course hydro locking the engine. Pulled the glow plugs, thought I had stepped back far enough w/ my remote starter button spun the engine (absolutely soaked me), replaced the glow plugs, then it sputtered a bit but fired right up and no issues since. It is just old school almost no electronics and seems to be very reliable.