You'd be fine on the pistons with AFR 165's if you're stuck on AFR.

 

I stand corrected. You do have to have your stock pistons notched. When I said i had trouble with launches, i meant that you can have too much head for your motor. A high revvingengine that is either wide open or off can get away with a big head, otherwise a smaller head will make more power in a milder engines rpm range.Me personally, iam dead set on using afr's. They are already ported and outflow any other head on the market.

 

im not dead set on afr but whatever the best deal is, im there.
as for the bottom end... once i break into there wont the cost start to rise quick...by then i might as well buy a better block to hold more power that will probably come down the road.
But with a good h/c/i/ on a 302 im looking at what 320 at the crank?

 

A stronger block is always better for sure. I bought a new production block to start my build. I am under the understanding that the problem with a stock block is splitting at high rpms. I rev mine to 7 grand at the drag strip and so far so good.
As far as 320 crank hp. That seems totally within reach considering you can buy top end kits (intake, cam, heads etc.) that produce a claimed 350 hp.