answer, the most average horsepower.
>The stock cam is 240/248/112/.420lift and has 20* of overlap. But without a tuned exhaust/headers the overlap period will do nothing for the engine.
but
>In at 110, that short period cam has a loooong compression stroke of 130 freaking degrees. and; That short period cam has a Powerstroke of 122*, and
And '72 is the last year of hi-compression.
>Back in the day, stock 2bbl, 72 318 A-bodies trapped just short of 80mph, it didn't much matter what gear was in there, 80 was it. ..... because it was at the top of Second gear; a shift slowed you down, and 3.23s were long-ago outta steam. The 4bbl will get you there just a lil quicker, but maybe not, cuz you'll just run outta rpm a lil sooner. If you shift, you could be slower. If you don't shift, your average power will fall off.
>If the 3.23s have to stay, and if your 318 is one of those higher compression ones;
then I'll go with small solid-lifter fast-rate-of-lift cam, but realize that the logs will kill the overlap, which is at least 50% of the power increase . And
the late-closing intake valve angle of a bigger cam, will kill the bottom end by virtue of failing to trap, even as modest an amount of A/F charge that the stock cam did. The bottom end can quickly feel less like a 318 and more like a slanty. aaaaaaaaand
now you need a higher stall convertor.
>For these reasons, and I know you didn't ask, I recommend a high stall before anything else. And a SureGrip rear gear that traps you at the right rpm.
I didn't vote, because you did't provide a third option, namely stall and gears.