ihave a '65'361cid with stock pistons,727 tran and stock rear end, stock carter AFB 4 barrel(also have a big holly off a 440 i could put on).have reworked 906 heads that have been ported and bowl blended w/2.14/1.88 valves and double springed capable of 600 lift. also have headers.what cam would be good for this set up?the car is used for a driver only, just looking for a little more power. thanks. ido have a new competition cam w/.425 valve lift, would this work OK?

I think the compression ratio with stock pistons, 906 heads and the thin 0.020" head gasket is supposed to be about 7.5:1?
Sounds like you have a pretty mild cam? what is the duration?
I'm guessing the cam you have is the 252H High-Energy 206/206 @ 0.050", 0.425"/0.425" 110 lsa, 106 cl?
It should work OK.

the 252H is the cam I have. would I be better off getting a different cam or going with the stock cam? also which carb would be best the carter or much bigger holly? thanks for the help

the 252 cam will be just fine. i would stay with the afb,or,a 600 cfm edelbrock/holley carb will be more than enough carb for your 361.

Keep teh cam small as suggested. You've got only a 361, and the ported heads with bigger valves might be a bit much for a 361. Don't compound it with a too-big cam.

I'd almost recommend getting a set of -516s to put on to regain compression and increase port velocity. I don't think a 361 can exceed what 516s can provide.

what about a comp xe262 or xe268?

x100 on NOT using those 906 heads and finding some 516's....and maybe even cutting them a tad.

Those 2.14/1.88 valves in the 906's might not clear the 361 bores anyway. That's 4.02" of valve into a 4.12" bore.

I'd be in favor of the comp xe 262 cam...

if I was looking for a strong 361 w/ stock gears/torque converter etc I'd probably keep the stock heads, maybe a fresh valve job depending on the mileage and general condition of the engine, performer rpm (yep) with a 600 holley, the aforementioned compxe 262 cam, good MP ignition (16-17 degrees initial timing, 38-40 degrees full advance by 2800rpm) w/ orange box, and probably some schumacher tri-y headers.

Good strong engine, that'll work well with a heavier car w/ stock gears, converter, get good mileage, and make a good show in an impromtu drag race at a stop light or otherwise. It doesn't take much with a decent mild v8 to make for a nice street cruiser/part-time bruiser.

I don't know much about the 361 engines reguarding what they had for stock cam, pistons and compression? When I did a search for replacement pistons I only came up with the Sealed Power #251, and the Silv-o-lite #3219. Both are supposed to be stock replacement pistons with a 1.880" compression distance and dished (approx 14.5cc?)
This should mean the piston will be 0.052" below deck height at TDC, and even with 72cc chamber heads, and a 0.020" head gasket, the compression ratio is still only 8.18:1.
With 84cc heads compresion drops to 7.43:1 with the 0.020" head gasket. With a 0.040" head gasket, compression is only 7.16:1?
It sounds like you already have a nice set of 906 heads, and the 252H cam, and they will work with your combination (may have to check valve to cylinder bore clearance?)
At the 7.43:1 compression ratio, with the 252H cam you should have 120 psi cranking compression which is not too bad considering the low compression ratio.
It does not look like there is much you can easely do about the compression ratio short of a rebuild with custom pistons or a stroker crank.

thanks for all the info everybody. i have one more dumb question, how do you check the valve to bore clearance and how much clearance do i need?

You can notch the bores for the intake and exhaust valves but a 1.88 exhaust valve will kill torque. even a 1.81 would be big on a 361 the best combo may well be ported 516's with 2.08 intake (maybe 2.14) and 1.78 exhaust (or 915 heads if you can find a pair)

if your using a stock converter
something like this
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LUN-60301LK/

or summits
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-K6400/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-6400/