I have a tendency to make myself too open and come under fire lol. This motor won't be my first build. The difference I'm realizing between a small block chevy and a big block mopar is that it's a lot easier to get high compression in a sbc than a big block mopar. Dad explained to me the difference between open and closed chamber heads. Now I understand the kidney bean and toilet bowl descriptions

I'm looking at pistons, heads, decking, etc. My overall goal here is to maintain a factory looking engine that is a sleeper making around 425 hp . When I go to mopar nationals, its not like they're going to ask me to pull off my valve covers so they can run the numbers on my heads. I want the motor to keep the same intake and hi-po manifolds. The previous owner put on a 750 Carter Competition Carb that will work perfectly after a good rebuild.

The one part of this car that makes designing this motor difficult is the combination of the four speed and the factory AC compressor. That AC compressor is huge compared to the R134 compressors I've seen. My hope is to keep the factory AC, which makes it that much harder to choose a cam, heads, etc. that will be able to handle the power steering and AC pump. Luckily the car has manual brakes which kinda helps with the process.

I'm open for any design suggestions on this motor. Let me make it clear as well that I am NOT going to put a 525+ lift cam and that I'm not building a racing motor.