Excellent point on octane. I think my cars' compression is 10.75 to 1, since the block and rotating assembly are as-is from the pontiac assembly line with 68k miles on it(excpet for a new oil pump and roller timing chain), and the rocker ratio is still 1.5:1, if I am reading the AMA literature correctly.

And, Thanks.

I realize I don't have the most ideal combination, my goal is to have the car perform it's best this summer without throwing a lot of money at it.

In retrospect the cam seems like maybe a poor choice to me now.

I'm having a hard time finding the stall speed for the stock converter. In the AMA they list a Max ratio for stall of 2.3:1 for all firebird with the 400.

With the same drivetrain, isn't heavier simply slower?

1) The heads are stock 670, rebuilt with hardened valve seats. Rocker ratio and compression is what came from pontiac for the firebird 400 in 1967.
2) Exhaust is stock cast iron.
3) The carb is a Service replacement quadrajet made in the 1970's (rebuilt ~2 years ago, doesn't bog, leak or hesitate). The code on the carb is 7037263, which translates to a MT-AIR for a 67 full size pontiac or GTO with a 400 or 428.
4)with the vehicle warmed up and running at 600 rpm idle, vacumn is 10. Not using rhoads lifters.
5) Linkage and tune appear good to me, I just changed the spark plugs, set the timing and adjusted the carb.

No garage anywhere near where I live has a dyno or expertise working on old pontiacs. If there was I'd have the car tuned on a chassis dyno and take out any guesswork.

I'm not expecting the car to run the advertised numbers from the original specs., especially since I'm not running the ideal combination.

Changing the shift points looks inexpensive, any reason not to change these? I may just focus on the shift points and keep my eyes open for a complete 3.55 rear, unless there's some way 3.55's work with my differential housing. I have a date coded matching numbers carb which I haven't had rebuilt yet as well.