Im building my stock 502, short block was just completely freshened up, and has the stock pistons that all 502 come with. 8.75 to 1. my question is, the dart heads that im using are 308 runners, 121cc combustion chambers, so if i dont have the dart heads milled down then i will have less compression, than stock gm heads that are 119cc. I was looking to get down to a 115cc combustion chamber so that i would bump the comp to 9.25 to 1 or so about.....Will i have and piston to valve clearance problems with a cam for about 575 to 600hp. The stock 502mag piston are small domes with valve releifs, i just dont want to have valve to piston clearance problem.....

I want steel heads, as im in salt, also a friend works for dart and i can get great deal on them...

that depends on the cam...

The 502 CR is actually about 8.65:1. Installing a head with a 121 cc chamber and adding 2 cc's will lower the compression to just about 8.5:1 Getting the head to 115 cc's will only get you to about 8.9:1. You really need to deck the block since the piston is pretty deep in the hole.
You can go to a Cometic head gasket that is only .027 thick. This will lose 4 cc's over the standard .040 gasket. It will also help by lowering the quench. With the heads at 115 cc's and a .027 gasket, you can get to 9.1:1. You will need to cut about .035 off the heads to get to 115 cc's.
Even with that, you shouldn't have any piston to valve clearance issues unless you install some stupid big camshaft.
Let me know if I can help.
Eddie

Im looking to get 575 to 600hp so what would be the best way to go, I just didn't want to spend much money on heads, but I can get a set of darts iron for cheap, cheap brand new. It may not be the way to go....I just want a simple cam, roller rockers,rods,lifters and head swap that has been done before and I don't have to worry about anything... tring to keep costs down, that's why i'm not doing different pistons, just freshen up..
Would it be better for me to do something with stock heads and slap inconels in, and slap a cam in? Will I be a the 575 number....

If you are looking for only 575-600HP those heads should support that much HP.

There are a couple good threads that include Iron Eagle 308s. Some good reading to.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-hp-500-a.html

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...pe-dreams.html