[painted jester]

We don't know the particulars of your compression, head flow, gearing, or convertor or tire diameter etc, etc. stock is subject to change by year and model 454s range from 460 horse stock to around 180 horse stock. your particulars are very important to cam choise

The voodoo #lun-60200lk cam by Lunaty: idle to 5000 rpm 207/213 dur @ .050 in. .495/515 in. lift would be a good choice with a stock converter, so would the voodoo 1000 to 5500 rpm #lun-60201lk 213/219 dur. @ .050 in. .515/.530 in. lift ! Or any cam comparable to these 2 I mentioned! Everyone here may suggest a different cam your best bet would be to call a tech line at a major cam company tell them what you have in detail and what you want it to do and they will steer you straight! Beware of sales men that try to sell anything to you make sure you talk to a tech. the for-mentioned Howards cam is a good choice Ive run that cam but I would suggest a little higher then stock converter and 3:73 gears to bring out the power!

Cams that have a power band that begins at above 1000 rpm are above most stock torque converters lock up and you would need an over stock stall converter for cams that come in like 1400 or 1500 rpm to 5000 rpm etc,etc.

Jester

[66GMC]

I only have two "pearls of wisdom" for you. (Read: "Mistakes I have made")

1.) Try to match all parts to the same RPM range.
2.) If you install a flat-tappet cam, be VERY careful with the break-in procedure, and use a ZDDP additive.

My first cam (the one I destroyed during break-in) was a Clevite #229-2305 "Performer" 224/234° @ .050, .529/.553 lift, 114° Lobe CL

I was looking for a "lopey idle", but this cam wasn't.
Maybe it isn't fair to judge this cam badly as it ground off one lobe pretty quick ... but it just seemed kind of "doggy". Some suggested this was due to the 114° CL, saying that cams with 110° are much "snappier"

I am running an Edelbrock RPM AirGap, 750 cfm Holley, 2500 RPM stall convertor on a TH400 trans, with 3.73 gears. If anything is "mismatched", I'd say that 750 is probably a tad too small if I were going to run this engine up over 6,000 RPM.

So I'm pretty sure that I over-compensated with my present cam selection ... a Comp Cams XE284H.
2300 to 6500 RPM, 240/246° Dur @.050 lift, .574/.578" lift, 110° Lobe Sep, 106° intake CL

I definitely got the "lopey idle", but I'm pretty sure that my compression ratio is under-spec to make this cam real happy. Sounds good, though.

In retrospect, the XE274H probably would have been a better fit.

The truck has not turned a wheel as of this writing, and I'm not sure when I'll get back to it.

I'm sort of hoping for it to be just a little bit doggy off the line, as traction will undoubtedly be an issue anyway.

PS
Stock 781 heads, block not decked, forged flat-tops, stock 454 Felpro gaskets. (8.0:1 compression? I'm not sure.)