I'll let out some tricks I did. I didn't however exploit the rules to the full extent because this was still primarily a street driven car (and still is).
I didn't go with the allowable 1.5 compression bump or the max allowable bore either, and elected to keep this a pump gas motor. So it's right on the edge, although finicky, so I mix 3-4 gallons of race gas on race day to be safe. Pump gas on the street.
.030 over with a forged TRW flat top that is NHRA legal (hence legal in pure stock as well per rules) and assentially isn't any real difference from the factory flat tops. Block is zero decked. Standard ring package used. So again I didn't exploit the rules here which actually allow the much thinner (ie: less friction and weight) 1/16" ring package if you wish. That's how most aftermarket pistons come nowadays anway.
I wanted durability and long lasting, that was the thought process, so the standard "thick" ring package was used.
Heads are bone stock 1970 ram air III castings (no porting allowed) They were milled .010 to ensure flatness and a good seal. Afterwards they CC'd at 74. Stock OEM valves used, nothing necked down for flow or anything fancy like that. All new seats and guides, springs etc...Only deviation from stock is a nice multiangle valve job, which is allowed per rules. Compression came in at 10:1.
Camshaft is stock melling blueprint ram air III. Melling at the time had more accurate lobe profiles and was the favorite among the pontiac guys years ago. Only deviation in the valvetrain is BBC rocker studs (larger diameter for more stability, not that important however with stock spring pressures) but more importantly I gain complete adjustability and can set preload. Camshaft is installed advanced to increase cylinder pressure and give me a slight boost in low end torque (you'll see why in a minute)
Intake, carb, distributor, manifolds, all stock correct casting numbers.
Trans and rear have never been out of the car. 400 turbo, stock 40+ year old everything and never rebuilt. Stock 12 bolt and 3.31 gears. More gear allowed but again, primarily a street car so I gave up some ET, Car could use 3.73's. Cam advanced for a little more grunt to get the car moving with the mild gear.
All stock springs and shocks (oil filled shocks on the front for more movement) and front sway bar frame mounts spaced down slightly so as not to crush the bar with the bushings to allow the bar to move freely, however still hooked up per rules. Pinion angle shimmed and set to 4*, to give zero angle under load for best transfer of HP. All stock original 40 year old suspension bushings that are in fine shape but "broken in
". That's really it for suspension tricks and as you can see from the pics, the car is effective at transfering weight to the wheels and hooks up nicely, a breeze to drive on stock rubber.
Exhaust is the allowable 2 1/2 inch setup with a stock style transverse muffler as the rules state.
Lots of tuning on dyno with a wideband and tweaking at the track, makes 301/355 at the rear wheels.
I gave up HP on the engine build for streetability, and didn't exploit many tricks. Engine built 16+ years ago and still running as the day it was built some 50,000 miles later. Not raced much in the last several years however.