The 288 head is a direct bolt on as for the carb a small 4bbl would work either a stock style or an Edlebrock or Holly would be fine. these engines don't really need a huge carb it would kill your bottom end power remember early 4bbl carbs were in the neighborhood of 300 cfm. Holly makes a 390 cfm carb which would be a good choice in my opinion.

Thanks very much for the link to Cunningham, I'll have to give them a call 2,000 is a very good price! I personally don't trust a 60 year old rod to hold up.

There are 2 ways around the piston issue, you can get a slightly longer 288 rod or as i plan on doing get custom billets (the stockers would fail way before 370 hp) i dont know the cost yet but I have been emailing a Crower tech to give him the details to get a quote. When I get a price I'll let everyone here know.

Thank you everyone for your input! ARP has pretty much any stud i would need for the mains or the head and I plan on breaking out the Bridgeport and making billet mains or at the very least a girdle. Pistons run about 100-120 a piece from Arias and i'm getting info on custom rods because the stockers don't have much hope of making it. A port and relieve job is one of the first things on my list and I am pretty much stuck with a reground cam it would cost close to 2k for just the billet cam and that's not even covering the lifters. My estimates are closer to 10 grand complete as I have a 4-71 to use that i got in trade for some work and I'm a competent enough welder to make my own header and intake. Finally I really think i may bite the bullet and get an Edmunds reproduction head from Empire motors if for no other reason that being able to modify it for what ever valve or piston i want to run. I feel that if the ford V8 can be made to produce close to 300 HP on pump gas i should be able to be at 375 with more cubes and a way less restrictive exhaust.

I have an article from an old hot rod magazine that covers modding 2bbl carbs if memory serves it was done at the Man-a-fre shop if your interested i could get the info over to you.

My favorite is some spray adhesive on both sides it comes off easy and there is little mess.

Just to get the information out there, I had a recent conversation with the guys at M&H and there very knowledgeable with modifying flatheads as a whole not just the ford V8's. If your looking to get just a slight bit more power out of your engine of your looking to be a contender at Bonneville they can point you in the right direction and give you a rough estimate the cost as well and they don't mind answering any question you may have.

That's very good information and it also crossed my mind that even with light pistons and a hotter cam and all the related equipment to attempt to increase the RPM potential with a super long stroke would i be able to turn more than 5500 RPMs and have it survive.

Does anyone know the effect of light weight valves in a flat head motor? i'm considering stepping mine up with some 5/16 or 11/32 stem valves to save a little weight in conjunction with titanium retainers I just don't want to throw the money into it if it wouldn't help things out. I'm looking on one hand gravity will help them close and possibly help with valve float and on the other the lighter valve train will let the spring work more effectively. Any input would be great!

thanks for the link that was exactly what i was looking for