My engine buildup plan is solid on every aspect except for cam selection. Here's the deal: 91 4 bolt main block w/ Eagle 4340 forged 383 kit around 10:1-10.5:1 compression. Pro Topline Vortec heads with 2.02/1.60 valves and all the tricks in the latest car craft article on vortec heads. They should flow about equal to AFR 180's and will support up to .600" of lift. For the time being I'm going to be using an RPM Air Gap intake and BG 750 speed demon w/mech. secondaries. Hooker full length 1 3/4" headers with dual 3" x-pipe system with bullet mufflers and dumps. I'm running a 97 T56 and a 9 bolt rear with 3.90 gears. 16" drag radials. and tubular adj. rear suspension/spohn torque arm. With weight reduction car should be around 3200 lbs.
Once the car is finished, I will upgrade to EFI; either a RamJet setup or a Holley stealth ram for vortec style heads if one ever becomes available. When I go to efi I'm going to bite the bullet and go Accel DFI. In both carb and efi setups it will be supplemented by a 200hp shot of nitrous on occasion.
I need a hyd roller cam that is going to work well in both carb and efi applications.
I have been considering the following extreme energy grinds:
08-423-8 XR276HR 276/282 224/230 .535/.544 w/1.6

08-423-8 XR282HR 282/288 230/236 .544/.555 w/1.6

08-433-8 XR288HR 288/294 236/242 .555/.576 w/1.6

08-433-8 XR294HR 294/300 242/248 .540/.562 w/1.5

Since it's not a daily driver I want a cam that has as much lope to it while still being able to cruise around on nice days. I have a rollmaster billet timing set, which is 9 way adjustable, so that should offer me some adjustablity to tweek the cam slightly, right? I'm thinking that with DFI, a manual tranny, and if necessary a vaccum cannister I can compensate a little. I don't want to have to chance cams later on when upgrading to efi. I know LT1 guys are getting away with 110*'s but what do you think will be the best?
I plan on revving to 6500 max. I know that it being a 383, it requires more cam than a 350 and will give me more torque than a 350. The 3.90 gear will help as will having a manual tranny to control my powerband. That gives me the impression that I can get away with one of the bigger cams while having some bottom end without having to rev it to 3 grand. Keep in mind this is going to be a street car. If I ever go to a track, it will be rarely and to a local 1/8th mile track. What do you guys think?
Someone please enlighten me.
My target is 475-525 hp/525-550 lbs ft at the flywheel. What kind of numbers do you think I can reasonably expect?

 

without really looking into it more i'd run the 3rd cam. like you said with a manual trans you can get away with a lot more and if you have brake problems run a exrea vacuum tank. you won't have any clearance issues with the pistons untill well over .600 lift. make sure the springs match and use screw in studs. you might get a little cheaper if you get a custom gring. i have from lunati.

 

My heads have screw in studs and wolverine dual springs good to .600 lift, so that's covered. I've got 4130 .080 thich 1 pc wolverine pushrods and I'll be using comp pro-magnum roller rocker arms. So my valvetrain is pretty much bulletproof for the rpm I'm gonna be running. The weakest link is the gm roller lifters and they're the updated version used in zz430's they should be fine, but I may upgrade if I can find something else reasonable.
How does the lobe profiles and ramp rates of lunati's hyd roller cams compare to the extreme energy grinds from comp?
Anyone else's opinion on the cam choice?
Does my power goals seem realistic for carb or efi?