I'm going to check out a set of heads that are local to me. Guy claims smaller combustion chambers but not sure by how much.
The cc specs posted for the pistons are 6.3. That's what I was using along with 73 for chamber cc. Piston is .079 in the hole. Checked it a half dozen times.
I was gonna put the heads back on with these gaskets. .027 thickness and maybe the heads this guy has up here if they check out.
https://www.cometic.com/i-24769458-ford-fe-big-block-352-428ci-v8-027-mls-cylinder-head-gasket-4-080-gasket-bore-each.html
Kind of sounds like I might be throwing good money after bad money her though. Itll be a few years before I can put a motor together for it just trying to put a bandaid on it for now.
So we are in the ballpark, but mathematically it doesn't make sense unless your rods were reworked unresonably. (3.50/2)+6.54+1.816 = 10.106. Subtracted from a virgin block at 10.170 = .064. If they accidentally used 390 rods you'd be in the .100s even with a big cut to the block. However, it really doesn't matter as anything over about .060 your quench is gone and you are above .100.
There are few heads that will be significantly smaller chamber. However, a set of C0AE-D heads could be, but don't get caught up in getting the compression up significantly. A 60cc chamber, if you find a set, would get you above 9:1, but you still have no quench and A tight quench higher compression engine will generally be better on fuel than a moderate one with no quench. If the other heads are indeed C0AE-D heads and about 60cc, they'd get you into the 9:1, but be ready, because it could be fussy on fuel
Remember, the cause of your low power is likely not just compression, the pistons are deep in the hole, the timing curve is slow and the cam, although good, is a little bigger than stock and heads don't fix any of that other than compression.
Don't discount the distributor recurve, it isn't lip service, a stock Ford distributor and all aftermarket distributors deliver with too much mechanical, which comes in too slow, that big curve limits the amount of initial you can run. You get your initial up to 18 or so, and coming in quicker (within reason) to 40 total, it'll gain some snap, likely as much as you'd get out of a set of heads for much cheaper.
Second, if you are willing to get inside, you could advance the cam too, it's also cheaper. You are at 106 IF the timing set was a decent one, bu it could just be off. Bringing the cam forward 2-3 degrees, degreeing it and putting at 103-104 centerline, along with the recurve will be noticeable and under 200 bucks total for both, and undoable for the next build.
Some here like DCR calculations, some don't, but say you slapped a set of 1020s in there. 8.1 static, 6.87 dynamic compression. If you advance the cam 3 degrees, dynamic ends up at 7:1, that is the equiv of raising static to 8.3 with a 70 cc head.
You may lose at WOT, but you will gain vacuum and torque, how much depends on where the cam is now and where you put it.
Last, Wade's old heads did something VERY different than a smaller chamber. They dropped the quench pad into the cylinder and brought the entire chamber lower, this made the engine act like the pistons were not deep in the hole. If those heads are usable, that's an interesting option, and could be beneficial, especially if Wade rubbed on them a little, but throwing a set of heads on that will gain anything significant in compression may not get you where you want to be in driveability and likely is just throwing money away
There is one last option, but I think it's another "cut of the nose despite the face" option, assuming you run manifolds, cut and prep a set of small port truck heads. You get to around 68 ccs, and you gain a little torque, but you'd lose overall peak power due to the poor flowing heads and you still have the quench issue.
In the end, if you rolled in there with both heads on and on a budget or delayed timeline. I'd recurve, check the throttle for WOT first, then advance the cam if it wasn't enough. BTW, cranking compression will go up when you advance, you can see it. If that wasn't enough and you were set on getting compression up, I'd yank that engine and put a set of pistons that approach zero deck, but there goes the budget
