I know there are many posts that may cover what I need on this site, but there are so many different areas to look. I am a novice and just trying to gather some information.Need a little help. I have a 1972 442 clone with an original numbers matching 350. I want to pull the motor this fall and do a few mild upgrades. I feel that the bottom is is pretty strong. I am after a good sound, with just minor performance upgrades. I wont be racing it at all. Just want a cool street car that is a little fun. I want a cam that has a little thump but is still drivable for long cruises. I’ll also be working on the heads a little, hopefully doing some mild porting, valve spring upgrade along with roller rockers and lifters. Any suggestions on a good cam size, brand, and headers. Should I keep the original heads or just do some aluminum Edelbrock already built? The motor already has an Edelbrock performer intake and carburetor on it.

 

You need to be aware that an original 1972 engine would have around 8.5:1 compression ratio in its factory form. Simply replacing the factory .017" thick head gaskets with aftermarket .040" thick gaskets will reduce the compression from that "theoretical" value (I say theoretical because it is the highest the CR would be on paper and likely is a bit less than that due to real life manufacturing tolerances). The bottom line is you have to be conservative with the camshaft profile as it is easy to overcam a low compression engine and make it run worse. There are camshaft profiles that will make more power while not overcamming the engine, but they will not sound like a top fuel dragster idling.

 

Do you plan on only a top end or full rebuild? If top end only consider a leak down test before pulling it apart to avoid finding out later you didn't go far enough. Do a thorough assessment of what you have then develop the plan for what you desire

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress!

 

As Fun71 said, you won’t hear squat with the compression you have. If that’s really what you want I’d consider diving in to the bottom end. Otherwise you’re going to have to make some compromises.