Try to follow me here guys...I bought this 86 TPI from a young dude that had it for 5 months and couldn't maintain it money wise. It had a comp cams sticker on back window...I asked him if he threw a cam in there he said what's that....told him about sticker he said it was on it when he bought it. original owner has passed. When I test drove it it was a turd so I paid 1600 thinking I'm gonna need a motor. Anyway, 2 weeks later I got everything handled (except code 34) I take it out with my son and father in law. I go around a curve and punch it....first time punching it since I test drove it, and I'm telling you it planted itself and LUNGED forward...sounding NOTHING like it does in light driving....pulling hard up to redline. My DD is a 260 horse MKZ and my son goes wow that sounds way better than your other car....anyway, short of looking at the damn cam is there a way to tell if its cammed?

 

Pull valve cover and turn motor by hand and put a dial indicator on valve retainer

 

Take it to the track and see if it runs better than mid 14s if so id say it may have been cammed. Butt-Dyno has been known to fool us.

 

People who have owned nothing but a V6 or 305 are surprised at the butt dyno results of a typical 350.

As mentioned above, a dial indicator can tell you if the lobe/valve lift is above stock but you can also get roughly stock lift cams that have more duration and different valve timing that will still perform better than a stock cam.

Short of stripping the engine right down to see exactly what's in it, it's only a guess as to what may have been done. A cam number is at the back of the cam so to see it, the cam needs to come out.