[blykins]

Originally Posted by Three Peaks

If all else were right, that cam or one similar in a custom grind (but better specs as Brent is referring to) would be terrific on the street. Should have better street manners than my XR 294 but about the same horsepower and torque readings- but at more street friendly range.
Where do you live? Maybe you could have someone close by come over and show you how to determine Head and piston volume measurements, degreeing a cam, and if it were me, I would be checking your piston to valve clearance while you're at it. All things you could do yourself with a little technical guidance in a weekend.

An old school trick I've heard of, but haven't tried myself is to increase combustion chamber volume by doubling up on your head gaskets. Of course, this won't work with metal gaskets, but worth a try to see if it addresses the problem without completely removing the engine. Also, some manufacturers make double thickness head gaskets just for this purpose but I wouldn't know which ones to recommend. Hopefully, someone here can help out or call bull**** on my idea, whichever is appropriate...
Still, a piston dish measurement is just about mandatory before doing anything else.

Bob

Doubling a head gasket would be a big no-no.

Increasing the quench distance can cause just as many problems by itself as a high compression ratio.