Advise on Ford 302- 331/347

[Dimis]

Zarpoxx - Welcome!

Careful asking for opinions. You'll have all sorts of people like me spending your money

The Cheap & Easy (Easier) fix, to get that kick in the pants feeling it seems you're seeking is to change your rear end. ie: something over 3.50 and up to 4.11.
The "negative" is the car will be working at a higher rpm range whilst cruising, but if you're chasing a 7k RPM engine build you probably prefer that.

In terms of engines, if you are hell-bent on getting one done, and the budget allows, go get yourself a custom engine built as you want it from the beginning.
Band-aid fixing or part swapping the current engine may end up costing you more in the end, as you chase, swap and redo items to finally get want you wanted to begin with.

Good luck either way and enjoy

[CraftEngines]

We typically recomend the 331ci engine for longivity. We really like the AFR 185 with 10:1 compression and a small hyd roller. We do alot of 224/232 range cams that make good power and are nice drivers. If you would like to turn 7000 rpm you will want to use short travel lifters and a single plane intake. Only disadvantage to the single plane intake is that it will hurt the torque down low (1500rpm). This engine will make 450hp and 425ft/lbs torque. To make 500hp you will have to make this build a little more radical or up the cubic inch, cam, compression, etc.

Thanks
Lance