273 time to 'fish or cut bait'...

Syleng1 said
Again.... "Stay focused and positive. There are plenty of people on this board that can help and plenty will give you opinions only."

If you are choosing 273 then run a 273. If you go 340 or 360 you run into risk of exhaust issues ( yes the engines are the same size BUT you need more breathing for those engines for the larger displacement) due to tight quarters. Hard selection on headers too. Only a few fit with P/S. Automatic (if you are going that route) and clearance period. 318 is a better choice over a 340 or 360 unless this car is being built for it to begin with ( larger cooling and heavier suspension to handle torque from a 360). Trust me... I was going to build a 340 for my 66 in the picture but it is too tight and i want a good driving and QUIET car as well. My 318 was dynoe-ed at 325 with the factory 273 exhaust manifolds with very few mods. (325.4hp at 4800 rpm and 380ft torque @ 3750 rpm at flywheel)
Only take on what you are comfortable doing.
Find the correct intake and adjustable rockers, if you run a dual point distributor your only going 5500 rpm anyhow. And forged pistons are only needed if have a reason... turbo or nitrous. If not high compression, its just wasted money.
That 273 if built well will fit your needs. If your machinist gave you guff over bringing in the rockers... What an as$. When you redo the valves you should always have the faces of the rockers refaced to match the tops of the valves and clean and verify the rockers are ok. Its the job of the machinist to verify the rockers and refresh them for you.
Time for a new machinist . Heck just taking .040" off the heads gasket surface will improve compression, remember the new gaskets require no re torque BUT the loss is thicker gaskets... less compression.

Please sit down with a pen and pencil and write down what you want from the car and go from there. Sending out the heads before you even know what you are doing is possibly wasting money (my opinion)
You dont even know what cam you are going to use so what valve springs to put on those heads?
Good luck,
Joe
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Joe,

Thanks, I'm a rookie and expect to get my *** handed to me often. I sent the heads in to ensure they weren't cracked, though I believe that's not often with old 273's because they are iron or cast or something... Anyway wanted to make sure that they weren't broke before I started building... Thought if they were ok I could at least use them on Cuda#1. Am I the only one who thinks he should have two 'Cudas?? (I do have two boy's so... why not, it may be Canadian but it's still a Cuda).

Seriously, I did buy the book, it just ain't here yet... They say "All roads lead to Rome", I don't want to piss my money away but, bottom line is I'm having fun and learning new skills in my retirement. My wife will spend the money if I don't anyway...

I had thought I'd use the 'Commando' cam, but haven't found out exactly what that is... Then thought a high performance, but seems those are mission specific. So I am lost on what cam and I hear cam dictates valves... which is the point behind my post.

There are so many rules that I can't even begin to comprehend someone posted that your carb is specific to whether your running an automatic or a manual! That is crazy talk to my uneducated brain! I thought that the carb provided air and fuel to the cylinders what the F does it care if the transmission is an automatic??? There is a lot for me to learn, and I believe that FABO is the place to learn it...

As I mentioned I just want to burn rubber at the F***ing stop signs/lights and run 60-80mph all day on pump gas, passing chevy's is simply a plus... What ever cam that might take, so be it...

Sorry for the rambling, Thanks for the advice. Believe me I could not do this without the support of you and FABO.

65Cudafix