For some more perspective, I have run two cams other than stock in my 235-powered 3800 pickup -- a Howard's M4F "3/4 race" and a Crower "custom special."
The Howard's goes like this: 206 deg. @0.050 intake and exhaust, split overlap at 4 degrees; split timing on the bottom at 30 and 30.
This cam is indistinguishable from stock when running 2 carbs and Fenton headers. That's why I pulled it out. It will pull well at 2200 RPM at WOT. No dyno numbers but I would guess that the torque peak is about 2200. The actual grind may not be what's on the card. I didn't degree it when I put it in. Dead smooth idle.
The Crower it considerably hotter and I developed it over the phone with advise of Bruce Crower. Advertised duration 252 deg. Here are the specs at 0.050 lift: duration, 220 @0.50 lift split overlap at 8 degrees split timing on the bottom at 42 deg. I did degree this cam and I installed it 4 degrees advanced, which was as much as I dared to maintain 0.50 valve to piston clearance. I told Dave that I wanted a torque peak around 2800 RPM and I'm guessing it's more like 2950. It will turn up til it runs out of carburation at about 3600. On the road, It pulls hard down to about 2600 when the fire begins to die down and by 2500 it's time to shift down. If you're not in a hurry it will pull down to 1500 without complaint and it's fine around town loaded just shifting the main transmission. With the 3-speed auxiliary I can keep it on the boil between 2600 and 2900 RPM and that cam works well. It idles without a lope but not like stock.
Changing to the Crower cam with no other changes improved the fuel economy significantly, like about 25%, because I'm no longer running way over the peak torque RPM most of the time as before. In overdrive it's turning 2850 at 60MPH. It has noticeably more power at 2800RPM.
