new 360 advise needed please.

i build my stuff and lot of client cars like this. just good over the road cruisers with nice manners that get reasonable mileage and have good power. i think you're on the right track.

you've got the 904 which is great, and you're 100% not going to want to hear this... but i'd look to upgrade it with either swapping in a 998/999 or putting in a low 1/2 into the cases you have and rounding that out with a shift kit. that combo with 323's will absolutely rip around town and you'll be able to cruise nicely on the highway with 26" tires. but, this would open up the possibility to running 2,90's or 2.70's and giving you longer legs on the highway without giving up much stop light to stop light.

as for the motor, everybody is right on the money. personally i'd stay below .500 and 280 because that wants compression, stall and gears to shine. all of which are concerns in touring: fuel quality, mileage, continuous RPM, heat in the trans. the comp 260 gets high marks, and that's what i'd aim for: 460~470's lift and 260's maybe tickling 270 duration.

spend the money on heads, getting everything just right and maybe even popping for a pocket port. i think the stockers are a perfectly acceptable piece here but if you wanted to splash the cash, the options are out there. the RPM intake is perfect for the combo. i'd top it with a 750 holley, vac 2ndaries and downleg boosters.

the killer here is going to be the stock 360 bottom end, and with notoriously low compression it's going to need some help to get those numbers. so, there's options of: deck the heads and run a thin head gasket, pistons, deck the block... and out of those i'd probably choose pistons. but, you really won't know until you pull it apart and check everything and measure up all the bits to calculate. you'll need *some* compression, but 8~8.5 is just shooting yourself in the foot.