Long story short - I was told the head is the difference (with the smaller combustion chamber), not the valve train, and if there is a difference in the two valve trains, the reasons are not enough to dump the 848 head for the 261 head. My machine shop didn't even acknowledge that much difference in the two valve trains and used parts from both to assemble the valve train. Maybe there is something to learn here, but I have never heard anyone mention any significant difference. I remember that the 54-55 Corvettes used a 261 cam, but I'm not sure just what head was used or valve train. Another differnce was the use of solid lifters with all 261 engines - perhaps that is sigificant.
Heck, I just followed the crowd on this, but would be interested to know if any significant difference is really notable. Let's keep talking about this - I think it is a very meaningful subject to allot of us for our engines.
Joe
