318 cam shaft selection/upgrade for stock engine
Naw, you CAN get more lift and keep the duration low and will be waaaaaaay ahead of the stock cam. I wish there was still data somewhere on the 70's Crane HE cams.... hydraulic efficiency cams. (Any one have a late 70's Crane catalog?) They cam out in the wake of the 1st Arab oil embargo. High lift, low duration, wide LSA. Not at all like a stock cam in terms of performance. Good economy, good idle, excellent torque, good HP if you had good breathing parts in the rest of the system. EASY to get 1 ft-lb and maybe .85-.9 HP per CI with a cam like that.
Guys who have never run such a cam just don't know....shoot for just under 1 HP per CI rather than 1.1 or 1.2 HP per CI and it is a whole new world. Torque, economy and wide torque range is all there to be had. No foolin'....