power valve makes my 440 ping??

wow! that was a huge post. lots of info.
when guitar jones offered his advise. He made the point that in a wild cammed engine with pore intake vacuum, His experience showed better results with a PV plug and an increase in jetting(8 to 10 sizes as discussed) rather than a PV and lighter jetting.
I have to agree with him, my previous engine (6cyl .550" cam) loped away between 3 and 4" of vac at 900rpm and was far more streetable with a PV plug. yeh my 440 wants a PV and it'll get when it go's back together.

I do agree with you and a few other guys, that Im likely chasing two problems. At this point tho im in a process of elimination, Iv found I had vac/oil leak in the valley as discussed earlier, my distributor is a factory Hi pref unit so it never came with vac advance, its recently bin tested in a dizzy machine, no problems there, steady 21deg(crank) from 2150(crank)rpm and the points dont bounce till above 6000.

when my rockers and gaskets arrive ill bolt it all back together and start on trouble shooting the fuel system. the fuel I use is BP ultimate 98oct.
The octane boost I used was locally made nulon and with BP98 is used all over the country in 12to1+ iron head motor with no ping.
my holley has the correct metering blocks for its #'s and they are not blocked or oversized in any orifice. It also has a brand new baseplate and was draw filed flat on the gasket surfaces, was completely chemicaly cleaned and preasure tested. Holley dont mind the reg being mounted on the engine either, infact there are brackets avalable to mount them from the carb baseplate studs and the engine temp stays 160-170 as discussed earlier. thanks Tim