rebuilding my 79 302

[crazypete]

Yeah, leave the rockers for now, the heads are your major concern. Check that cam and make sure it is still usable. I know a guy who had a 69 impala that had 1 cylinder basically shut off since the cam had been ground smooth and the valves werent opening.

Take your existing heads and port the living heck out of them. 79 heads should be early smoggers and have a lot of space for improvement.

http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2...ng/index.shtml

There is also an article floating around about porting the gt-40's but I cant seem to find it. Very informative though. Basically unshroud the valves, grind down the AIR injection bumps, smooth everything to a glass finish and take off all bumps and smooth the turns. It'll get you more more power than spending money on rockers and since you already have the heads and access to a shop, it doesnt cost anything. Consider spending the rocker money on a nice upper intake which you can port to match the heads.

Then get a true dual exhaust from a mustang at a junkyard (you might need a double hump crossmember too). That'll free up some more power.

Finally strip the car down so you make better use of the power you already have. Take out soundproofing and anything like a bracket that looks extraneous. I managed to get like 400 lbs of crap out of my car and it still has a full interior.