I agree with all of you. I don't want to risk a motor I don't know the history on. I spoke to my machinist and if there is nothing to catch my finger nail on in the bores, then there only needs to be a fresh hone and a set of rings. I'll also change all the bearings.
The cam will probably be changed just because I'm so picky with my cam choices. So far, I've looked at Crane, GM and Iskendarian cams on Dyno2000. I don't really look at the ultimate numbers that Dyno claims, but I DO look at how the cams compare with each other. The Crane cams were the best for area under the curve, max and average torque. GM cams were a close second, and Isky was after that, which surprised me. The Isky cam in my IROC is extremely strong, I expected better.
I'm looking for something around 2000 to 5500 rpm. The heavy towing cams are typically idle to 4500 rpm, give or take. But being that I have ridiculous 4.56 gears in my truck with a super-granny 7.06:1 first, I don't think I really need an RV cam. I am looking for a good low-midrange torque cam that will do decently on the highway, with a cruise rpm in the 3500 range.
I already know that my truck requires 3800 rpm to go 70. Running 75 at 4000+ rpm will not give me very good gas mileage. So a change in rear gearing is in its future.
I think a 3.73 will drop rpm down pretty good so that I still have good towing ratios and won't tear the engine up going down the highway either.
I will keep the bathtub heads in the truck and just get a valve job on them. I might throw in a pair of steel shim head gaskets for 9:1 compression.
...And of course, the motor will be painted just like the truck, fire engine red, with polished and finned valve covers and oil pan. Should look pretty good.
