[chiphead]

My first pontiac was a 350 in my 67 LeMans. I found that large valve heads and headers don't help unless you've got the cam and compression to take advantage of it.

My engine was a stock '70 lemans 350 with 46 heads and the stock 254 cam. I swapped on a set of 17s and a comp XE256 cam. It would run 9s in the 1/8 mile with log manifolds and performer intake. I swapped to a set of 670 big-valve heads and headers. It picked up about 2-3 tenths. This is with a stock converter and 3.23 gears. A bigger cam and more gear would have helped. The 350s can be made to run well. Like any engine, you've got to match the overall combo.

The stock 350 cam was T-I-N-Y. I'd swap in that 2800 or 2801 in the 350 with a set of 72CC big valve heads like the 16s. Add a converter and 3.23-3.55s and it'd scoot.