Hey guys,

I'm currently building a '39 Ford Truck and have 2 Y blocks - a low-mileage '54 239 that runs and runs good (it appears it was rebuilt at some time) and a tired 292 that I plan on doing a full rebuild some time down the line. For now, I'm getting the 239 ready just to get the truck moving, as I have a few other projects in the garage that also need attention.

I managed to score the uber rare Edelbrock 354 3x2 small port manifold, which I believe was made only for the 1954 year 239. I plan on putting a newer distributor in it, but I was curious about compression in terms of cutting the heads down a bit. Stock compression is 7.2 - I'd like to up that a bit and wondered if anyone has done so, and how much material you took off the heads in doing so - or in addition, would it be worth it to cut bigger valves in these heads?

My other question - is anyone doing re-grinds on the 239 cam, as of course, absolutely nothing is available out there. I don't want to go crazy on this motor as I'm going to eventually build the 292, but I wouldn't mind doing smaller things for some gains, if possible. Any suggestions are welcome - just looking for anyone who's squeezed anything extra out of their 239.