i got a 1971 pontiac 350 in my 81 trans am it has a eldebrock performer intake and 650 carb with hei ignition and hooker headers with a auto and 3.73 gears i have the number 94 heads that are 90-96 cc on it right now and i tore it apart to inspect the cam and lifters 1 lifter came apart but i put it back together and reinstalled it all and it runs good now but the cam and lifters are wore and in need of replacement i was thinking of building it to 350 ho specs with a 68 cam, i picked up a set of redone #47heads off a 69 350 that are 72cc so id have higher compression but i was thinking of taking 8 ccs off those heads to make it 64cc and change the valves to 2.11/1.77 just like the 350ho my question is is there any better cams out there for my setup? should i do any porting to my heads? and should i get screw in rocker studs, how much would a place charge to change the valves over and make hardened valve seats and maybe even change it to screw in rocker studs, im just looking to have around 325-350 hp so my car can be in the low 14s maybe high 13s is that possible with that setup?  

I'm doing the same thing man, I wanted my motor to either match or surpass the 68 or 69 350 H/O. I couldn't get a hold of #18 or #48 heads which are H/O heads for the 350 but what I did was i found #62 heads off a 68 400 and got them on b/c of bigger valves and I don't know if I raised compression or not, wish i knew but also got those bored over for bigger valves. I also slapped in a 465/298 cam in there (which is the biggest one i could fit in there w/o roller rockers). Other things I added are an edelbrock performer intake, 650 cfm edelbrock carb, jegs headers, and a tight 2,500 stall torque converter. The guy at the machine shop told me i should be making around 350 h/o spec, if not more. I sold my #47 heads but I think what your doing should be fine. I would recommend getting pushed in studs, and whatever cylinder head work you want done, just depends where your income takes you. Thought I would just get my word in, so far it does sound like u r going into the right direction  

Jarrett, your combo sounds good, there are newer cams that have similar specs to the 068 that have more optimized action. Often they will give you a better idle and torque than the old grind. But the choice is yours. As for the larger valves, I wouldn't waste the money for the bigger exhaust valves, it's till only 350 cubes, most Pontiac builders agree that the 1.77" valve is only necessary for really big or really hi-rpm use. Also when considering the bigger valves, remember that Pontiac chamfered the tops of the bores to unshroud the large valves in the 350HO, when they switched to the 2.11 across the board in 75 they chamfered the intake side only. Remember that the higher compression will require more octane too. I would think low 14's are attainable with this combo, it's all a matter of tuning and traction.
Steve  

thanks for the help i wont change the valves then but should i have the screw in rocker studs or just keep my pressed?? i have access to 93 octane and 110 octane locally so im not to worried about the octane would taking some cc's off the heads for more compression be worth it? will the 068 cam give me a somewhat choppy idle in my 350?? what would i look for in a cam for more optimized action that has similar specs to the 068?  

Jarrett, as far as the studs go, I would upgrade to screw in studs while the motor is apart and go with a set of poly-lock adjustable rocker nuts so the lifter preload can be set. My 350 had previously had one head milled to correct a head gasket failure and the lifter preload on that side was way to excessive and it idled like prostocker. When I put poly locks on and set the lifters by the noise method like a small block Chevy, the idle smoothed out quite a bit and now it doesn't smell so bad at idle from the excessive fuel blowing past the valves. The 068 cam should give a fairly smooth idle, but Comp cams or Crane have more modern profiles available. Comp has a service on their site that lets you fill out a tech card and they will e-mail you with a cam recommendation. If you are honest and thorough when filling out the info, they can tell you exactly what will work best for you. Something like their XE262H should fit the bill.
Steve  

Ooops, I was looking at this post and for some stupid reason I recommended pushed in studs... I meant to say screw in studs!!! not pushed in lol sorry about that!  

I've got a 74 lemans sport coupe i've had for 20 years ' it has a 350 bored .30 over been balanced with trw forged pistons, .490 lunati cam sig earson valve springs , you need to use valve springs to match your cam. as for as your seat pressure. i got #17 heads off of a 69 350 , they are 265 horse heads but only 1.96 and 1.66 valves. a smaller valve will build more cylinder pressure than a big valve will. screw in studs are best but a pontiac head uses a 7/16 tappered stud, warrior products sells a stud with 1/2 threads, or you can healicoil the head , that's what i did.