@mattt congrads on your build! It's crazy fun to do this. I would have LOVED to go for 205 Mongoose heads from AFR. If I had a big build budget those would have hit the spot with the cam I bought.
I also think those rods are DEFINATELY superior. I just was concerned about oil pressure tolerances and had no way to validate them in the design, yet I installed low pressure drop lifters haha.
Per the cam, call Roger. You won't regret it. There is a guy on Youtube that reviews Cams on the dyno for LS stuff. Roger Holdener. Everybody LOVES his stuff and don't get me wrong it's very valuable. However, I have issue with most of the information out there on the internet on building these engines.
They assume you're interested only in wide open throttle pulls. Dyno runs aren't able to do much for us at partial throttle or lower RPMS. The internet is fantastic at building a garage warrior big cam high peak output motor but not a truck build.
I think you are looking for something similar to me. I wanted good performance down low where it counts with a truck. I too wanted good partial throttle response. This takes a person who really knows their stuff to spec it out.
The home builders are IN LOVE with lots of overlap and big cams. They are fun no doubt. However, the more I studied the more I learned you won't want that overlap. LS heads are very good and don't require much overlap. Overlap also is lost pressure (power) out the exhaust and not creating HP in your cylinder.
Next when I dug deeper into cam design. I learned RV Cams were a better route, almost pulled trigger on a Comp Cams XFI truck cam. I called up Comp Cams to ask how hard they are on the springs. They didn't really have an answer for me. Those cams decrease overlap by making a steeper ramp on the cam, and flatter top (more time with valve open farther). I was concerned that would wear fast on my valve springs and when I called they said they haven't got data on that, which worried me. I don't want to build a truck motor that lasts for a few years then drops a valve.
Long story short. I called Roger Vinci. Don't regret it one bit. He saved me money, I got superior parts, and exactly speced to what I want. He also spent a good 2 hours on phone helping me with my build. I'll be posting here once I'm out on the road. Got me dual valve springs that don't have a ton of seat pressure, yet give me redundancy. He understood my concerns and has decades of experience designing cams not just for his customers but also the big name brands and racing teams. He knew EXACTLY what to do for a truck cam too / partial throttle, low RPM torque, and high MPG.
I'm sure he'd know how to make you a cam that could meet your smog requirements. Tell him the guy who build his motor with Johnson Lifters referred you haha. He'll remember me. If you have any further build questions PM me. I'd be more than happy to help out
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