cam selection

im buying a 350 v8 for my 73' restoration project truck that has the following specs;

1) weighs about 5500 to 6000 pounds

2) is 2 wheel drive.

3) it has a turbo 400 tranny with the stock converter (at least for now)

4) a posi 12 bolt rearend in it.

5) i plan to need at least some good vaccum at idle for running various things such as the heater and brake assist systems.

6) needs to be a daily driver that is reliable and durable

due to the above specs, what do you the people recommend for a cam choice? im looking at the following different setups, which one do you all think is better for my application?

1) low to midrange edelbrock performer cam (idle to 5500 rpm) with stock heads, good exhaust headers, an edelbrock performer eps intake (idle to 5500 rpm), stock torque converter, and a holley 600 cfm or equivalent edelbrock carb.

2) Higher end edelbrock performer rpm cam (1500 to 6500 rpm or higher), better flowing heads, good exhaust, edlebrock performer rpm intake or better(1500 to 6500 rpm), 2000 - 2500 rpm stall speed torque converter, and edelbrock 650 or higher cfm carb.

i think the lowest rpm range setup gets maybe 300 horsepower tops and the best kit for the lopey-ass setup gets maybe 400 or more at high rpm's. what do you people think is best? ive been debating because i dont want to loose all the low end power and driveability by getting the high end stuff, but 400+ horsepower at high rpm's really seems appealing to me

What ever cam mfg you decide to use has a tech dept that specialiizes in tayloring a cam for your set up, that is the best way to do this.

well, i could go either way, and the tech support at edelbrock just says "use cam and lifters # blahblah" and i was wondering if it would be best to use because i need speed and driveability not just one or the other. its pretty confusing to me

# 1 for sure in your case.