With the time slips you found in the car, we worked out the top-end rpm with the 30-inch tires. With a slight amount of converter slippage, the car would have been turning around 5,000 rpm in the lights at 107 mph. Going with a 28-inch-tall tire will step the engine speed up closer to 5,500 rpm. This should be a much better rpm for that engine, and with some upgrades, we don't see any reason why it won't run 110-112 in the lights at high 11s. This is a great speed for the engine because it will live forever, and it's where your stock oval ports run out of air.
As for the camshaft, we would stay to the conservative side and run on a bunch of torque. Of all the short mechanicals out there, we like the looks of the Comp Cams Xtreme Energy Mechanical XS274S. It specs out at 236/242 duration at 0.050-inch tappet lift and 0.568/0.578-inch max lift, and is ground on a 110 separation angle. This cam should be stronger than the earlier hydraulic and isn't too big for your stock oval ports.
Since you mentioned you didn't like the looks of one of your lobes, let me reinforce how critical cam break-in is, especially in these days of junk engine oil. They have taken all the zinc out of our oil to satisfy the Smog Police and it's killing our camshafts. Make sure you follow Comp's recommendation on break-in and use its oil additives. Also, as I have mentioned before, Joe Gibbs Racing has specific break-in oil that isn't regulated by the aforementioned Smog Police, and Lucas Oil has just released a specific oil additive package called TB Zinc Plus (PN 10063), just for engine break-in. Check it out. Good luck and see ya at the races!
Sources: compcams.com, lucasoil.com
If you have technical questions for Kevin McClelland, send him an e-mail at chevyhi@sourceinterlink.com.