Should i even bother with with getting a higher compression ratio?

DumpsterFire said

Have a 360/5.9 magnum I've torn down for pretty much just a street car dart. I was going to leave it mostly stock and dress it up like an LA. It's honestly probably more than enough engine for the car but the urge to do something is pretty strong. The 9 to 1 compression feels low but if I get it to somthing like 10 to 10.5 with new pistons am I really wasting my time? I'm trying to see what a smart route to slightly higher comparison and a slightly more aggressive cam would be. Want to pretend I didn't just slap an old truck motor in even if that would be the reasonable thing to do

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Time to figure out the entire build plan and budget.

If you do not intend to have any work done on the cylinder heads and do not intend to replace the cylinder heads I would not personally bother with the cost of new pistons and rings and cost to balance that rotating assembly. I would definitely check rod and main bearings. If it is coming apart further for inspection replace the camshaft bearings too. Then just install the Hughes Engines valve spring complete kit and camshaft snout extension, and then get your original camshaft reground and run the original lifters. You will have to measure to see if new pushrods will be required after the camshaft regrind.

If replacing he cylinder heads anyways, I would then go with more compression and camshaft but then the cost really starts going up.