I'm guessing you aren't that familar with what a stroker can do. Given the chance, you better hop in a truck that has a properly built 347 or 331. If you think a basically stock 302 has decent power, bring some extra underwear 'cause you are in for a HUGE suprise! I can promise you will need binoculars to see the other truck from the '75 or '79. Horsepower and torque figures are exponentially greater than any standard 302, with any cam, could ever dream of across the board and they can be tame enough to drive comfortably every single day.

Now the point I was making originally, he already has purchased (installed?) a mid-range intake and a carb that's good for said intake. If it's thought that now by putting an RV cam in this truck that is going to be good for lower end power, it'll end up being the red-headed step child you refer too. The hangup is in the decision to match a camshaft to everything else, intake, carb, lousy stock heads, truck weight, usage etc....The best we can hope for here is to get him towards something that will make use of the parts he already has. For me it's the intake, like monsterbaby, I totally agree it would have been better to go with a performer type intake matched to the RV style camshaft you like! That would be ideal!! It's that basic, please don't read anything else into it.

Actually, after reading it back, you validated my point perfectly with your two trucks. You've got a cam and carb upgrade by your own admission on the '79 with no mention of anything else. The reason it's running like a redheaded stepchild (I really like that one by the way!) is because nothing is supporting the cam and carb upgrade. You need to support the base parts and it's not being done by that example. Unfortunately people think they can whack any camshaft in an engine and the world should be all fine and dandy (and that's a generalization)

***I guess I could use this example. I have a 75 302 with towing/rv cam and edelbrock 600. I have a 79 302 with 278 crane and edelbrock 600. 75 will leave the 79 at the line with its pants down. Then about half down track the 79 will pass up the 75***

Oh, and yes I am very familar with how aftermarket camshafts react in small block Fords, I've built lots of them including a handful of very strong stroker engines for friends. 99% of the poor running setups that I've seen over the years are the result of improper parts selection but mostly the owner's inability to tune a "performance" engine (for the record no, I don't consider a cam and carb swap a performance engine, it's not!)
Now, that's not a shot at anybody, I'm just stating what I've seen in the real world.

One other thing before I quit, under no circumstances should you ever tell anyone which camshaft you are running, It's hotrodding tradition!

Always keep 'em guessing

 

You simply don't get my point i'm trying to get across. I know what a stroker will do but why bother in a street truck? A 302 with a rv/towin cam will melt the tires down at will(Its not a guess, I know it will I got one that can).
And my other 302 with just a few mods and 3.00 gears will run 145mph. The engines I have do what I want, so a stroker would be overkill for me. I'm trying to explain that if the guy is using this for everyday driving and cruising I think a stroker is money wasted. I don't see any need in having that much extra power in a street truck unless you plan on showing off to everybody all the time. The 302s that I have do not run poor, you can count on that.

I know completely what effect a stroker can have on an engine compared to stock. I help my buddy build 7.50 bore and 8.00 stroke two cylinder John Deeres for pulling which is a ton of power compared to the stock 5.50x6.75.

Stroker=fun, lots of power, expensive.
Rv Cam= fun, decent power, cheap.