Seeking CAM Advice

I want a different cam for my 520 engine. I purchased this engine knowing that I would most likely change the cam out and have decided to do just that.
It is going in to a 4000lb car with 727 (unknown but low stall TC, willing & wishing to purchase new TC & flex plate to compliment combination), 3.23s, 235/55r17=27" tires.
No drag racing, need stop & go traffic & long distance capable driver able to blast past slugs and trucks in a hurry when motivated to do so.
The engine I have to work with (and limit work to valve train/TC) is as follows:
'77 RB block, 4.375x4.375
Heads are Promaxx with some more bowl work, cc'd & port matched to intake. I realize that these will limit max output numbers, but they will work for what I am after for now.
Edit: 84cc chambers
Valves are 2.14int & 1.81ex
7.1 rods with Icon 10.25cr pistons. (Don't know quench)
ARP rod & head & engine kit bolts
Port matched Performer RPM intake (have unworked Holley SD if better) with Quick Fuel 780 vac. sec. carb
MSD 8546 dist, 6al, blaster 2 coil & 8.5mm MSD or Firecore wires (have both)
1 7/8 x 3" headers to mufflers then 2 1/2" pipes to rear bumper.
The cam & valve gear is what I am concerned about as the cam has more duration (300* adv)than I want for intended use and I found it has StreetMaster roller rocker arms on top. (I question the reliability of them?)
The springs are good to .600 and current lift is .540 but I do not know what they are or their rates/specs so wish to match to new cam & lifters.
Engine has Elgin heavy wall push rods & 3-bolt billet cloyes timing set.
The engine is freshly broke in with 630tq @ 3700 and 551hp @ 5300 as it sits which is plenty for my 'driving style' but I need better street manners.
I need to add that I have hydroboost standing by for power brakes if needed and am open to solid flat tappet grinds if best for what I listed.
I am leaning toward hyd FT for easiness on parts and durability but do want to make the most of what I have to work with as well.
I recently met an MOPAR engine builder who says he specs cams & will do the work BUT I would like some other input to compare to what he says.
I will be giving him the same info as above and will share what he says as well.
So, looking for new cam, lifters, springs & rocker arms, torque converter & anything else (AS NEEDED & recommended) to max performance AND reliabilty.
I don't want to waste any more money but have saved up for just this & want what is BEST not cheapest for my needs.
Edit again: MUST RUN ON 91 CA SWILL (not screaming but must emphasize this...)
I hope this is enough info to get the brainstorming started and appreciate and look forward to the recommendations.
Thanks!

THAT is excellent advise & what I should've done in the first place, thank-you.
No further comments required...

What do you mean by better street manners?
Is the current cam a hydraulic flat tappet? 0.540" lift sounds fairly small for a 520" engine.

451Mopar said:

What do you mean by better street manners?
Is the current cam a hydraulic flat tappet? 0.540" lift sounds fairly small for a 520" engine.

Click to expand...

Hard to know without duration numbers. My friend has a 0.540" lift hydraulic. It is the most gnarly sounding, radical idling 500" street motor I've heard. It's 312°/320° with like 100° overlap.

BSB67 said:

Hard to know without duration numbers. My friend has a 0.540" lift hydraulic. It is the most gnarly sounding, radical idling 500" street motor I've heard. It's 312°/320° with like 100° overlap.

Click to expand...

I agree. My thinking is go with a faster ramp rate solid (or roller) cam, and maybe higher ratio rocker arms to get at least 0.600" lift?
Maybe something like a Hughes STL4246BS3-9 soild cam? In a 520" engine that should be fairly mild.

451Mopar said:

I agree. My thinking is go with a faster ramp rate solid (or roller) cam, and maybe higher ratio rocker arms to get at least 0.600" lift?
Maybe something like a Hughes STL4246BS3-9 soild cam? In a 520" engine that should be fairly mild.

Click to expand...

Sure

i'd run a moderate solid and spread the LSA a little and not use a loose converter.

If you're interested I have a Hughes HEH-4650 Hydraulic flat Tappet that I ran in my 526" (same bore/stroke/compression as your build). It was a great street cam with awesome manners and solid performance. It only has about 1500 miles on it. I only switched because I went to a big solid roller when I switched to my trick flow 270's. Besides being docile to start and drive, I was able to eek 13.8 mpg's on the highway@70 mph. It was the perfect cam for the dual purpose I had for the car. If you are interested, pm me.
If you aren't interested, you can still pm me and I can give the rest of the particulars to hopefully give you info to get you where you want to be.

Thank you all for the replies!
I have enlisted an experienced MOPAR engine builder to assist with the project.
I'll post up when a decision has been made. In the meantime please continue to share your thoughts, experience &c.

http://jonescams.com/street-performance/
or Controlled Induction
www.controlledinduction.com

What makes you think most rollers have higher ramp speeds?
Most flat flank rollers do not
inverse flank rollers mostly yes

451Mopar said:

What do you mean by better street manners?
Is the current cam a hydraulic flat tappet? 0.540" lift sounds fairly small for a 520" engine.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your interest,
I am told the engine is not an every day driver & has 'rough' idling characteristics and not to use lock-up converter (Which I was NOT going to use anyway).

BSB67 said:

Hard to know without duration numbers. My friend has a 0.540" lift hydraulic. It is the most gnarly sounding, radical idling 500" street motor I've heard. It's 312°/320° with like 100° overlap.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment,
I do NOT know the duration #'s but think they are 'up there' as the exhaust ports are really black and it was only run to break it in/tune on dyno.

451Mopar said:

I agree. My thinking is go with a faster ramp rate solid (or roller) cam, and maybe higher ratio rocker arms to get at least 0.600" lift?
Maybe something like a Hughes STL4246BS3-9 soild cam? In a 520" engine that should be fairly mild.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion,
I will check it out.

BSB67 said:

Sure

Click to expand...

I'm not 'sure' what to make of this...

lewtot184 said:

i'd run a moderate solid and spread the LSA a little and not use a loose converter.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the thoughts, I'm still 'researching'...

Brewzer67 said:

If you're interested I have a Hughes HEH-4650 Hydraulic flat Tappet that I ran in my 526" (same bore/stroke/compression as your build). It was a great street cam with awesome manners and solid performance. It only has about 1500 miles on it. I only switched because I went to a big solid roller when I switched to my trick flow 270's. Besides being docile to start and drive, I was able to eek 13.8 mpg's on the highway@70 mph. It was the perfect cam for the dual purpose I had for the car. If you are interested, pm me.
If you aren't interested, you can still pm me and I can give the rest of the particulars to hopefully give you info to get you where you want to be.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the offer!
I think I'd be more comfortable purchasing all new, but will PM you soon for some info on how your car ran & how you liked it, thanks again!

wyrmrider said:

http://jonescams.com/street-performance/
or Controlled Induction
www.controlledinduction.com

Click to expand...

Thanks for the thought!
I emailed there a couple weeks ago...

wyrmrider said:

What makes you think most rollers have higher ramp speeds?
Most flat flank rollers do not
inverse flank rollers mostly yes

Click to expand...

This is where it's all 'Greek' to me.
I'm still learning.

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR THE THOUGHTS
I'll post up any further developements when they happen.

get your motor tuned and eliminate the blackness
do a simple compression check (throttles open) and post results
pictures of the plugs
do this before thinking of a new cam
get the old one running perfect so you have a clue which way to jump and how high
unfortunately most mopar builders are racers so you get racer advice
low stall is a foreign word tall gears are "no comprende"
do fill out that request link I gave you and get advice from someone with 40 years experience
Dwane would also be OK to talk with
do you know what your real compression ratio is or post up pistons used, gasket, cc's etc use Jones form as a checklist to organize your research

wyrmrider said:

get your motor tuned and eliminate the blackness
do a simple compression check (throttles open) and post results
pictures of the plugs
do this before thinking of a new cam
get the old one running perfect so you have a clue which way to jump and how high
unfortunately most mopar builders are racers so you get racer advice
low stall is a foreign word tall gears are "no comprende"
do fill out that request link I gave you and get advice from someone with 40 years experience
Dwane would also be OK to talk with
do you know what your real compression ratio is or post up pistons used, gasket, cc's etc use Jones form as a checklist to organize your research

Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply/advice!
The engine is on a (not run) stand. I purchased it knowing of its characteristics and planned on changing the cam & valve gear.
Before posting this topic here & elsewhere I had already submitted many cam recommendation forms including the one you have suggested. I only heard back from 2 and so decided to post up here while waiting.
I have since engaged an engine builder and then my iphone took a dump which is the reason for this delayed reply here.
I will post what the end result is if/when it happens.
Thank you all again for the responses.

post up the results when your hear
If you want to nail it contact Rick Jones at Controlled Induction IDk what he charges
look at his demo on his site
no mater who you deal with the info he collects is necessary
cheers

I recieved some excellent guidelines from BSB67 & PRH and found & using this to help me stay close to the characteristics I am wanting:
http://members.uia.net/pkelley2/Overlap.html

The escalation has begun.
As I feared (or always knew) would happen my 'simple' cam swap has turned in to a complete tear-down to see what's what + TF 240 heads...
The builder uses Elgin for his cams. I didn't realize they were so close by.

We sold lots of Elgin cams and other "Detroit" grinders - there were three big ones- buy from cheapest source
advantages
Cheap, high quality, backyard builder friendly, fewer failures, fewer comebacks
generally long durations for the amount of lift - so apparently easy on the valve train- but since they do not use all of the lifter this advantage is illusionary
Disadvantages
Not optimized for MOPAR, really old designs - you leave a lot of performance on the table, lacking in "area under the curve
excessive overlap and or late intake close so not optimum dynamic compression
generally long durations for the amount of lift - so apparently easy on the valve train- but since they do not use all of the lifter this advantage is illusionary

wyrmrider said:

We sold lots of Elgin cams and other "Detroit" grinders - there were three big ones- buy from cheapest source
advantages
Cheap, high quality, backyard builder friendly, fewer failures, fewer comebacks
generally long durations for the amount of lift - so apparently easy on the valve train- but since they do not use all of the lifter this advantage is illusionary
Disadvantages
Not optimized for MOPAR, really old designs - you leave a lot of performance on the table, lacking in "area under the curve
excessive overlap and or late intake close so not optimum dynamic compression
generally long durations for the amount of lift - so apparently easy on the valve train- but since they do not use all of the lifter this advantage is illusionary

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info-
I'm curious as to what'll be spec'ed for this after reading about & shopping for & getting feedback on cams for a while now. I think I have some basic parameters figured out for what I'm after so will be paying attention...and asking questions...