i have a 351c going in my 55 with a set of fully worked 2v heads, stainless, hardened and shaved. i have a performer intake and a 650 holley, running a tci breakaway on a c4. mallory 6a fired by a pertronix/duraspark dist. i was about to have fun with this combo til i discovered it wont fire over because i have no compression, took it back out yesterday and them rings were seized beyond belief. guess i shouldnt have skipped the block, let it sit too long. i have a brand new ssi cam with specs comparable to a 4v or boss 351. it is 204/214@50, 270/280 dur, .484/.510 lift, 112 sep. i am looking at pistons and figuring compression ratio, i was leaning twards a set of domes that might put me in the ball park of 10.5:1 or so depending after i have the block decked n such. is that too much for my cam?.. a 71 boss had around 11.5:1 i think. then in 72 they had a significantly lower compression, just running flattops. putting it around 9.5/9:1 compression or so. any help i can get on choosing a set of pistons is appreciated. i want a mild street motor but still a cruiser. thats why i chose that cam. i still have some deep truck gears in the rear also. but that might be changing. i like the keith black pistons and i rarely plan on pushing 4500 rpms, 5500 tops. i am sparing no expence this time and want to do it right.
also, when i take the crank to have it balanced, do they need the pistons and rods also?.. or just the crank, flywheel n balancer?.
thanks in advance for lettin me pick ur brain.

 

I would get a set of closed chamber 351 4v heads & a set of flat top pistons. & maby a little bigger cam & stick with that intake & carb.

 

i already have the heads all done up n money stuck in them, have a 2v intake also already and i wanted a 2v for the streetable torque, i dont need power at 6g +, i have a similar cam config in a windsor motor that is only running 8.5-9:1 compression tops. i was really impressed with the power n driveability, that was running 69cc heads and speedpro pistons, i figure i might have to get a popup to get a similar setup with the 76cc heads with much bigger valves, i have made the mistake too often of over building a motor, too much power more than what you need it for at too high a rpm for the stoplight to stoplight. i also know a cam and compression have to jive or you are in a world of hurt. the ports and valves being bigger should give me a lot better power than my windsor's small ports, i just need to know how to do it similar or right.

 

ah. that intake wont work with 4v heads. I'm get'n a head of myself. I used to have a '72 torino with a edelbrock torker ( single plain ) 4v closed heads, flat tops. Can't remember the cam now but it was rough to say the least, with 3.89's it ran real good. Wish I had it back .

 

yea, you were set up for go there! running that single plane and 4v you were set up for high revin breathing. i accidentally built a few motors too fast for a cruiser and i want to get away from the thumpity thumpity, a bit is ok, but i dont want to be one of them guys tring to summer cruise a prostreet setup., though fun, not what i am goin for

 

For that cam you spec'd I would stick with something around 9-1 or 9.5-1. too much with that small of cam and your begging for a case of the pings. Those older engines you mentioned lived on pumped gas because pumped gas was different back then, and high octane leaded gasoline was commonplace. We motorheads today have to deal with lousy 92 octane gas, and it's just not enough for a high compression engine. Granted you can run a high comp engine on 92, but the cam you need to run has to bleed off static compression with excessive duration to make it work. A frind of mine is running a 392 hemi with 12-1 comp on pumped gas but the cam is so big it doesn't come on till 3 grand. Then again when it does, hold on!, 625+hp and a rpm band that doesn't seem to stop (8+grand). All in a street rod that might tip the scales a 3000lbs.