Help! I Don't Speak Cam!

I appreciate your comments and questions. Sorry, it looks like I'm not fluent in "street use", either.

I live in the boons and will spend a lot of time on the freeway, "roaming around the hills" and only some time in town. My street racing days are well behind me. I'd like to set up for low-end torque, snappy up to 5K, and some fuel mileage (hence the SP2P).

I haven't bought the 10.5:1 pistons yet. I may bite the bullit and get Egge's, but I'll wait a while (cost is something of a factor). I will "balance" the head chambers by matching the volumes to the largest volume chamber, kind of like balancing a piston or rod. I will also try and fiddle with the piston and rod length to equalize the cylinder volumes. There's a great thread for that procedure on the site somewhere. I'll also try my hand at a home port tuning job and look into decking the block a little. I realize, as you suggest, a true 10.5:1 is likely unobtainable. If I get 9.5, I'm happy. And I'm not afraid to buy the spendy gas. I just don't want to have to add toluene.

I'll have to wait a bit to determine the rearend ratio. I also have to search out the trans gear ratios. I'm not sure of the wheel size, 13" or 14" (car is still 2 hours away and I'm waiting for a clear title before I pick it up). All I know is they're bone stock. I'm kind of concerned about keeping the speedo working accurately so the result will be close to stock ratio. I'm assuming a SBP, but will likely change to LBP when I get around to changing the rearend to 8.75", stiffening up the suspension, and converting to disc brakes.

It sounds like cam selection will be something I'll do after I get my CR dialed in and finalized. This thread was started to allow me to speak the language of camness in preparation for when I get down to selecting one.

Thanks. GR