You will be very happy with the 3.42, I swapped to that ratio from a 2.73 and the effect was huge with the 301. I also ditched the stock exhaust and went to 2 1/4 dual system out the back with turbo mufflers. These two changes gave a big seat of the pants increase over the stock setup. I also used lighter springs on this mech. advance and am running 15 degrees of initial timing. Hard to crank when it's hot but gives the best power. The stock cam is 189 degrees duration at 0.050, 0.365 lift, what I think it needs is between 195 and 200 and mid 400s on lift. It is fatally easy to overcam this engine, I once installed a mild street cam in one and it was a total pig, by the time it came up on the cam the VE fell off from the teeny intake runners. This was with open manifolds, so there was not much restriction on the ex. side.
I would love to see what a highly tweaked 301 could do, it would never compete with anything else but would be unique.
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