Is my engine performing as it should??

Johnny,

I just read your post and have a few question and suggestions. First the questions:

1: What part number is that cam and was it degreed when it was installed?
2: Is the compression ratio a true measured ratio including all the variables such as gasket bore/thickness, true head cc, piston depth in the bore, etc? It may be lower than you think.

Next, a couple of suggestions:

1: Close up that plug gap for Pete's sake! Dump the platinum stuff and get some autolite standard style plugs. Leave the plug gap @ .035 or .040 at the most until you get everything else sorted out.

2: How deep are the pistons in the bore? You say the block was decked but by how much? You may be able to use the MP .020 thick head gaskets to bump your compression. Your 60' will improve and the car will feel much "snappier" of the line (assuming you're not already spinning hard).

3: Install the correct valve springs for your cam at the correct installed height and check for coil bind, retainer to guide/seal clearance @ at the lift of any cam you might install.

4. Once you're are sure that your compression is at least 9.5:1, install this cam:
http://www.compcams.com/Cam_Specs/CamDetails.aspx?csid=637&sb=2 It's as big as you will want to go on a daily driver and will just sing on the highway. You will need to bump your gearing up to 3.55 and a 2500 rpm stall would be mandatory. The very tight lobe centers will preserve all important cylinder pressure at low-mid rpm. This cam will have a nice chop at idle but will still be streetable if the aforementioned converter is installed. Forget power brakes though, it ain't happening.

5. Install a quality adjustable valve train with 1.6 ratio rockers from comp or other well known manufacturer. Stay away from the imported stuff.

6. Use a quality converter!!! You won't be happy with the cheap Summit stuff. May I suggest a Dynamic converter by Frank Lupo. Make sure you tell him exactly what your combo is and leave out the inflated computer estimates.

Now, a conclusion:

The above would be a max effort street engine built around your heads and rotating assembly that should top 400 hp without a problem. :-D It just might scare you when it comes on the cam, lol. It won't be cheap but it will take advantage of the heads and not require a complete rotating assembly tear-down to bump your compression. You can forget power brakes and some serious carb and ignition tuning will be mandatory.

What you have now is a mis-match. That cam may have a wide lobe center and when that is combined with the low compression bottom and and ported heads, you have crappy 60' times. There are head porters who can boost your head flow from .200 lift to .600 lift but their work does not come cheap and can run to 1K or more on iron heads. If you can get us some flow numbers, that would be very helpful. For a street engine, it's hard to beat some magnum heads with a a good 5 angle valve job and a pocket port. 1.6 stock rocker ratio is helpful as is the ease of setting up the valvetrain.

As you can see, it's all about how all the parts work together. As far as the present combo stands, it's doing OK for what you got but really could be in the 13's if your compression was higher and magnum heads were used with a quality 2000 rpm converter, and the block were decked down to "0" and .040 gasket used for some quench. That would be the cheapest way to go. As it stands, it's kind of a "band-aid" approach to get you in the 300 hp + range.

I hope this helps.