Quote Originally Posted by techinspector1 View Post
"I believe Richard told me once that with aluminum heads, you can increase the compression one full point, and big blocks do like compression!"

That is all true Dave, but here was the guiding force in my answer to the OP.....

"not looking to make max hp just looking for decent torque for the street."

I took this to mean best torque at around 3500, that's why I recommended a short cam...….and you need short static compression ratio to support a short cam....

And by the way, the OP would be well advised to procure some equipment and cc the chambers on both heads in order to be able to intelligently choose the piston pop-up displacement.

For a better pop down low in the rpm range, I might enlist the help of a 2300-2500 stall converter. Jim Hughes has been a friend of mine for 30 years and I know him to be a man of honor and integrity, as well as being the owner of Hughes Performance in Phoenix. Ring him up and talk about a converter. You can trust him.
https://hughesperformance.com/

Use manifold vacuum at the distributor and set initial timing at 16 BTDC at the crank. Put 22 in the centrifugal advance, all in by 2800, for a total of 38 degrees. We cannot depend on MSD any longer, as the lifelong owners have retired and sold to an investment group who could care less about product quality. My best advice would be to talk with these guys.....
Performance Distributors - Performance Distributors
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Thanks for clarifying Richard! I guess the racer in me will always be looking for bigger horse pressure and torque numbers!