Seff

So, I'm having my '72 350 4BL bored up since it was rusty like nothing else, which means I need to get new pistons. A new cam, pushrods, lifters and half the valves need replacing, so I'm wondering if I should just order stock parts, of if I'll get more out of finding pistons with higher/lower compression, a more aggressive/different cam to get better mileage and power? I'll be using either 92 or 95 octane in it, since that's what I have available here.

I'm not looking for a sick racing engine kinda thing, but a daily driver. My rear is 2.73 and I'm getting a five speed for it, so mileage is key here.

Any suggestions? Thanks. :P

Thread for reference: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-car-i-do.html

Seff

After actually doing some reading, I've concluded that getting pistons with higher compression than stock (~8.5:1) would be ideal, and I've found a place (Kanter.com) that sells .040 oversized high compression pistons. Hoping that'll put me closer to 10:1. So far, so good. I have 7A (the 64cc 1972 kind, subscript A) heads, which I've gotten the impression is one of the better kinds to have for this.

I'm still not sure what kind of cam I want with that, but I know that I'll be driving the car in very low RPMs for the majority of the time, since my tranny has a 0.68 OD. Any suggestions?

I figure stock valves will do, and rods/lifters/arms are some of the easiest things to get to and change, so I won't be worried about those at all - not unless they cause a quite evident problem.

Seff

Alright, the cam writeup on the Olds FAQ tells me I should go for little overlap and a high Lobe Center Angle, for the best low-RPM performance. Does this sound right?