I think, actually I'm pretty sure, I have at least one burned valve. 
Vacuum is low, and stock head/cam combo has a lopey idle. Sounds nice, but doesn't belong. Power seems to be down considerably from 2007 levels with: 185/70-14 tires, 1100/Loadamatic, stock exhaust. Now, with: 215/60-15 tires, single outlet headers, 2 1/2" exhaust with turbo muffler, and HW 5200/DS II/GM HEI, it seems to struggle at 75-80 MPH. That is my target cruising speed on road trips. 
I'm going to pull the head off again, and have it surfaced. I'll have a valve job done, making sure it has hardened valve seats. After going that far, I might as well swap out the cam and lifters.
First of all, as much as I love horsepower and torque, I made the decision a while back to leave the 6 cylinder drivetrain in. Maybe put a shift kit into the C-4, but that's about it. An aluminum head would be nice, but I'm not interested in all the collateral parts mixing and matching. In addition, funding needs to be kept below the radar.
One additional consideration is a trip over the Rockies to SF & LA this Fall. :vert
With my present tires, I'm doing +/- 27 MPH per 1,000 RPM. That puts me right at about 3,000 RPM at the Unofficial Speed Limit in Nebraska. My intent is to be able to cruise economically and comfortably at 75-80 MPH, or 2,700-3,000 RPM on Regular Gas. Mike's site reads:
: Mike, what do you say? :
Vacuum is low, and stock head/cam combo has a lopey idle. Sounds nice, but doesn't belong. Power seems to be down considerably from 2007 levels with: 185/70-14 tires, 1100/Loadamatic, stock exhaust. Now, with: 215/60-15 tires, single outlet headers, 2 1/2" exhaust with turbo muffler, and HW 5200/DS II/GM HEI, it seems to struggle at 75-80 MPH. That is my target cruising speed on road trips. I'm going to pull the head off again, and have it surfaced. I'll have a valve job done, making sure it has hardened valve seats. After going that far, I might as well swap out the cam and lifters.
First of all, as much as I love horsepower and torque, I made the decision a while back to leave the 6 cylinder drivetrain in. Maybe put a shift kit into the C-4, but that's about it. An aluminum head would be nice, but I'm not interested in all the collateral parts mixing and matching. In addition, funding needs to be kept below the radar.
One additional consideration is a trip over the Rockies to SF & LA this Fall. :vert With my present tires, I'm doing +/- 27 MPH per 1,000 RPM. That puts me right at about 3,000 RPM at the Unofficial Speed Limit in Nebraska. My intent is to be able to cruise economically and comfortably at 75-80 MPH, or 2,700-3,000 RPM on Regular Gas. Mike's site reads:
That's right about what I'm looking for. The question is, which one is a better choice with my setup:
or:
So, which cam?
: Mike, what do you say? :
