[Will]

Do yourself a HUGE favor and get a copy of Jim Hand's book "How to Build Max Performance Pontiac V8s." Once you understand how compression and cam timing interact and the basics of the Pontiac V8 engine many of your questions will be answered and you'll be able to build a much better combo in the future.

The compression ratio is determined by the heads on a Pontiac, for the most part. The easiest way to increase the compression on this engine would be to buy some of the late '60s to '70 big valve high compression heads.

You really need more compression to make that cam work well, especially with 1.65 rockers.

Even with a higher compression ratio you will definitely want a good torque converter. For max performance with that cam look for 3000 - 3200 stall. Do NOT buy a cheap B&M converter from the Summit or Jegs catalog. They're cheaply made and not well suited for use behind a torque-monster Pontiac engine. They will slip horribly and stall much higher than their rating. Get a converter from Hughes, Coan, Continental, or Redneck. Those are all quality companies that make good products and can custom build a converter for your needs. A good torque converter is worth it's weight in gold in terms of the performance gains you'll see.

I know you have other questions - I'll encourage you to ask them all here so that others can learn.