Quote Originally Posted by unklslam41 View Post
i recently purchased a 1986 c10 scottsdale with a 350. i am wondering if there is a cam that i can put in on the stock valve train just to pep it up a bit. i am also gonna put a intake. it already had a 650 cfm carb. can anyone reccomend a sam i should use. hopefully it will be a lil more peppy and sound a lil better at idle
You're about to make the same bonehead mistake that all of us have made in our long history of learning how to do this stuff. The camshaft is the next to the last purchase you make on a vehicle, right after the torque converter.

First thing you do is bring up the rear with suspension, gears, wheels and tires. If you really want to make a difference, change gears first. Go up about half a point (example 3.50 to 4.00).

The cam that's in the motor from the factory is the one that will work best in an otherwise stock motor, that's why it's in there. Any other cam you install will only move the power range up in the rpm scale and make the bottom end power mushier.

As far as looking for that race motor sound of a choppy cam, you will need way more static compression ratio to make that work, so it means a complete teardown and rebuild to support the cam timing.

I don't expect you to believe me. I expect you to go ahead and install a long cam and then hate the truck. Most all of us had to learn the hard way.