302 heads-Is it worth putting them on a stock 318

All they mostly do is raise the compression a tiny amount over early open chamber heads
..That's what you feel.
But...
Air flow trumps all.

To say the 302's are better than other 318 heads "in some ways" is to say compression is king... when it's not.
"Ways"? what "ways"?
There aren't "ways" when the head will ultimately show less hp and tq on a factory 1971 318 than the 675 heads that came on it to begin with. The "gain" as people put it is just a bump in throttle response, a jolt...then it's all revs,noise...tractor motor.

Only if you do the chamber deshroud and a good valve job do they flow like a 675 from .300 up, they are short .100-.200 ..part of that is the closed chamber and the other is the decision whether to put a 15 top..which will probably help but not support the higher lift flow.

Maybe better milage, but less power. That's what the 302 head offers bone stock.
The numbers don't lie.
The early open heads are only 4cc bigger chambers. The later open chamber heads mid 75 n up are as big as 72cc.
The early open chamber heads flow the best while the later ones flow the worst and only a hair better than the 302 in the low lift. A lot of head stink till you work them.
Big wow, it changing heads to gain a dismal amount of compression while giving up even 10cfm is a waste.