what to do with my 273

Or - do what Im doing - drop a 318 in it and hang all the 273 stuff on it. Looks just like a 273, but its 45 ci bigger. My 318 is .060 over so its actually a 328, 55 ci bigger.

Lots of choices on a 318 too. You could put a late model 318 roller hydraulic motor in it or put an earlier 318 in it and run a hydraulic cam in it. Think of a 318 as a small 340, but use the smaller heads. In any event use closed chambered heads to get the CR up. With stock pistons the closed chamber heads give you about 9:1.

Personally if I did it again, I think I'd use the early closed chamber 273 heads refitted with 1.60/1.88 valves, pocket ported, and gasket matched. I used a set of the 302 heads and they'll be fine too, but the intake ports have a huge funky bulge in them from the pushrod, lots of grinding to get that bulge trimmed down. The earlier 273 heads dont have that issue.