318 driver - cam change or not?

I've brought this up a couple of times here, but just because it may help the OP, I'll bring it up again. I don't have small-block Mopar experience, but my '65 Mustang with a 289 is probably similar to what the OP is trying to do. It's got 9:1 compression or so (I had a chamber CC'd at the machine shop). It might be 8.8 or 9.2. It has an Edelbrock 500 and a Weiand aluminum intake (the smaller one). It has 2.79 gears and a stock converter. It has dual 2.25 exhaust and stock manifolds. I run 15* initial, about 36* total (by 2300 or so), and about 8* vacuum advance.

I've tried both a Performer cam (204/214* @ .050, 280/290* advertised) and a Comp 252H (206* @ .050, 252* advertised). I could not tell the difference between the two. Idle was the same, low end torque felt the same, upper end pull felt the same, gas mileage was the same, idle vacuum was the same (18.5 in. in neutral, 14.5 in gear), and cranking compression was roughly the same (145-150 on a quick, one plug out test for both).

I'm running the Performer right now (probably a Melling grind...it has an "Engine Pro" label). I know this is anecdotal, but I haven't noticed that the long advertised duration has made any difference at all compared to the shorter advertised duration of the Comp cam. I think either cam would benefit from a slightly looser converter; mine drops 200-300 RPM from neutral to drive, but it did that with a stock cam and a worn out engine. Heck, it's done that for the 25 years and 85,000 miles I've been driving it.

Sorry to drone on about a Ford, but I can't imagine a 318 would be much different. Heck, it would probably be better because it has an extra 30 cubes. Mine never feels underpowered for a stockish engine, although I almost wish I would have stayed with a stock cam for gas mileage. Out on the highway all day, it will do 17 MPG, but any time I have to stop and go at all, it drops to 13 or 14. Once again, both cams were the same in that regard. Good luck to the OP!