Quote Originally Posted by tango View Post
Tech when You and I were younger there were all Kinds of Job's to be had and we could make as much Money as we could stay awake . But Today that's not the case . Yes no way around it a Roller Camshaft and Rockers are the Better Build . But a Flat Tappet Camshaft Engine can be built and run an easy 100K + Trouble Free Miles . I built a Few Last Summer . My Truck Runs one of them Engines every day From High 90's to -10 Deg Weather . And that was not a High Dollar Camshaft . That Engine run excellent .

Yes with 170K Miles your Engine might have so much wear in the cylinders that it will need to be Bored more then 030 . Might be better off to use it for a core trade in on a Built Short Block . Maybe some one has a Reman OEM one piece Roller Block you can Trade it in on .

For a truck like that a 3.55 Gear would be good 2500 Stall Speed . You could Build a High Torque 355 with a Set of High Flow after market 2.02 1.60 Vortec Heads And a Camshaft Max 480" Lift use a Weiand Stealth Non-Air Gap Vortec intake with a 750 Performer Carb 1 5/8" Long Tube Heads .
Tango, I agree with you on several points.
1. There is no plethora of jobs like there used to be.
2. A flat tappet camshaft will run 100,000+ miles in a motor built today (but only if you follow the precautions that I laid out in my link above). What usually kills cams with these kids is the use of a herculean valve spring and no extreme pressure lubricant in the oil. I have a flat tappet cam in the motor in my truck (300 I6) that I rebuilt 2 years ago. The reason it will last is that I used stock springs and also an oil addivive. So, I'm confident that the motor will serve me for 100,000+ miles without incident.
3. The Weiand Stealth and the Edelbrock Performer RPM are basically the same design, both of them being a knock-off of the aluminum Z28 intake manifold from 1968 302's. Best street/strip manifold ever made for a small block in my opinion.