So, just got another Olds yesterday. Its an 86 442. It has the factory 307 but the oil pan is off and in the boot. The owner had passed away and his widow couldn't tell me anything about the car. I took a quick glance and saw that one of the rod caps had been loosened up. I'm assuming that the engine had some bottom end problems leading to such a teardown. I'm now contemplating which engine to go back with. I have a 350 that needs rebuilding. Either 350 or 307, I've got to build it. I was wondering though, as i'd like to keep the car appearing as original as possible, can i use the 7A heads and roller cam on the 350? If I decide to go back with the 307, any suggestions on how to squeeze a little more power out of it?

 

Go with the 350 all the way but not with the shitty 7A heads from the 307. No ones going to know the difference between a stock 307 or a 350 ( with 350 heads ) unless they know casting numbers so stick with 350 heads. I'm all for hopping up a 307, but would draw the line at rebuilding one or dumping a bunch of money into one ( especially the crappier roller cam ones ).

The 307 VIN 9 roller cam is junk for performance.

You want your car to look as original as possible but want it to perform well too? No problem. Build the 350 and use an A4 intake. The only thing I'd strongly recommend is a custom exhaust that eliminates the crossover pipe. I did this on my 85 442 ( blocked off crossover, custom pipes off the manifolds that routed under the single hump crossmember and dumped right into my Hooker catback system ) and it made a big difference over the stock crap exhaust, yet was still a very clean setup that looked stock.