He's what I would do. Get a set of reman 302 heads with 1.88 and 1.6 valves in them. Rering the stock short block. Not sure you'll get 9.5:1 but it will be a good compression bump.
Any idea what I might end up with?
Replace the stock rod bolts and have the stock rods resized.
Are you talking about where they attach to the crank?