"I called Clifford to get cam spec info to degree my cam, and he told me to just put in straight up"
That means he doesn't know.
The highest compression means closing the intake valve at BDC, or advancing the cam 40 or 50 degrees.
As you said, you can't install it "straight up" until you know where straight up (usually split overlap) is.
What's your cranking compression now?
