Yes, the plate can be swapped. When you have the gear pressed on, you will need to take the the old cam/gear with you, they're going to need the thrust plate from the old cam for the new one (I'm assuming the you got a new gear for the cam) as it isn't included with the new parts. As far as I know, the thrust plate isn't being made at this time.
I'm not certain about the 254 grind, but I'm running an M4F 3/4 grind cam from Patrick's, and I really like it. Lots of power and the sound is awesome. Most folks think I've got a smallblock in it when they hear it run.


Bill Burmeister