Thread: My Chevy 355 has little real power - looking for suggestion on CAM change

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"1) what about the intake?"

I'd leave it alone for now and change out the cam first. I think you'll find the motor to be refreshingly crisp with the shorter cam. I will enter a vote for the quadrajet. In my opinion, it is the best carburetor ever made and when properly dialed in, is just a tick from being as good as EFI. The tiny little primaries will do a great job of metering fuel for economy and the huge secondaries will cover you for those insane bursts of showmanship you are so well known for.

"2) How is degreeing the cam by 4 degrees different than simply advancing the static timing by 4 degrees after the cam is installed?"

You have cam timing and you have ignition timing. I'm talking about advancing the cam timing by 4 degrees in relation to the crankshaft in order to close the intake valve earlier and match up with your static compression ratio. There are several ways to advance or retard the cam. You can do it with a multi-keyed crank sprocket or with offset dowels in the cam sprocket. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU DEGREE THE CAM AFTER YOU HAVE ADVANCED/RETARDED THE CAM DURING INSTALLATION. IT IS VERY EASY TO DO IT BACKWARDS AND RETARD THE CAM WHEN YOU ACTUALLY WANTED TO ADVANCE IT.

As a side note, your present DCR is approximately 7.35:1. No wonder you can't spin the tires.