Quote Originally Posted by pat mccarthy View Post
well if you want some cr the 049 and 781 heads are open chamber so on a bone stock 396 it will lower the compression. hard to say what piston is in the short block maybe some numbers on them or the under side if pan is off or photo will help this will help tell me somethings . as for cam this is a older engine and rear cam need number #5 with a groove cut in the cam for oil to the valve train this is a smaller bbc they do not need as much cam as a 454 or big heads with big valves .you really have a 400 small block just built far better stock from gm so the 396 would not need much
tell me more about the groove in the cam for more oiling. is that necessary in all bbc? sounds like a good idea