Jack, i am interested in your reflections and may come to wish that i had seen them earlier. If one is building a daily driver, i think that what you have learned from experience is entirely correct. When we started out to build the 302 for my '52 Chevy, i wanted to replicate a 1950s street racer or whiskey runner--but at the same time, to make it as "bulletproof" as possible.
We have done all of the things that you suggest one should not do--4.125 bore, Howard F-298 cam (228 @ .050), fully balanced--but it has been assembled verrrrry carefully, with great attention to detail, and i am hoping that with proper care it will live a long time. i don't plan to drive it every day--$2.00 gasoline makes that a doubtful alternative in any case--but i am hoping to enjoy it fully whenever i have opportunity. It will run in front of a Saginaw overdrive, but the differential is Leo Santucci's old 4.88, so i should be able to keep the revs up.
In a few weeks--i hope--Vic Holley will run the engine in on the dyno, and that should tell us something about the cam and the power curve. i'll be interested especially in the torque numbers. With a 5,000 rpm absolute redline and 4,500 practical redline, the top end will not be anything to boast about, but she should get to it in some haste. The 4.88 should make it quick, but should also serve as a built-in governor (3.42 in overdrive). That's probably a good thing, given the age of the engine, the chassis, and especially the driver!
None of this is what we should do "now," but a hot 302 in a '52 Chevy is not about "now." It's about October 1955, runnin' against that rich kid drivin' a 210 Delray with the little orange funny-lookin' "v-thing" and "powerpack," fresh from the factory, and leavin' him behind . . . way behind. Just thinking of it makes me smile.
God's Peace to you.
d
