Thread: holden 308 VN head conversion

Im toying with the idea of building a second 308 motor up
I have a early 80s hilux surf with one fitted to it and yesterday I have had a pair of VN heads dropped in my lap

the two things keeping me from being fully convinced is current factory low compression ratio standard bottom end, Is there any way to up the compression ratio apart from replacing the pistons? decking the block? planing the head?
how much am I sabotaging the effort If i just run it with the current factory compression?
im trying to keep it as low cost as I can, the cost of the valley cover inlet manifold is the next hurdle at around a grand for the edelbrock or redline
Im toying with the idea of chopping the top off a 304 intake and converting it to a top carb set up But I dont have one handy to see if this is possible

Im semi hoping someone had a miss spent youth tuning these old iron blocks