Yeah, I saw the dates on this thread!!! I found it while looking for info on my old neighbor in Southeast Texas, Sam Cunningham. I was a mere child at the time, but I got to play Pit Rat for Sam and travel with him to dragstrips in Texas and Louisiana. I can vouch for the 9,000 rpm & sidestep the clutch starts, 'cause i saw his tattletale tach and heard that little motor scream. What memories!!! BC
I'm doing the same motor, factory had 11 to 1 and a duntov 30-30 cam (67-68)or a close one (69) well anyway for a street motor 11.8 to 1 is a bit much i'm 10 to 1 with the same pistons and World 74 cc heads so mine should be pretty good for a daily driver i figure. The factory used shot peened and magged rods, im gunna use some h-beams. Also i was kinda disappointed by the pistons they were kinda rough on top so i polished mine but they are still supposed to be good pistons.
I had a '69 Camaro Z-28 back in the good gas days of the early '70s. It came with 302 (factory rated 360HP range) Muncie 4 speed adn 5.13s if I remember right. In a 4 lane intersection with left turn lanes I would hit third gear, it wouldn't idle anywhere near 1200, more like 1350, burned lots of gas, constantly demanded attention (adjusting lifters, tuning, timing, etc.) and liked the 5-8K range best. And the low end torque was lousy. At the time I thought it was great but looking back it was the most miserable car I remember driving. A few year later I picked up a '68 Camaro sport coupe with a 327 and a 3 speed which was a much more enjoyable street car. And the police paid a lot less attention to me in it. We also experienced a lot of oiling problems on the number one inserts in some of the early 302s.
you probably should use the ISKY 550. If you want 10K rpm (like Sammy) better get you some aircraft engine springs for the inner set (third). Any questions I am at jacknally@hotmail.com.
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