Here's the combo I've come up with for my '72 short C-10. I want this motor to have major torque right from idle with a wide flat torque curve. I've run these numbers through Engine Analyzer Pro come up with Pk Tq 465 @ 4500, Pk HP 417 @ 5500. Dyno 2003 says Pk Tq 474 @ 4000, Pk HP 407 @ 5500. I was looking at the Comp 274 and Lunati 00010 cams, but the 268 gives better average torque overall.

What do you think?

Block: SBC 400, casting 519, 2-bolt mains
Bore: 4.155 (+ 0.030)
Deck height: 0.004 in hole
Head gasket: Felpro 1014, 0.039"
Quench: 0.043"
Compression (static): 10:00:1
Cam: Comp XE268H-10, Dur. 224/230@.050, Lift 0.477/0.480 w/1.5 rockers, LS-110, CL-106
Compression (dynamic): 7.75:1
Carb: 750 Street Demon Vac. Sec
Pistons: KB Hyper, 18cc D-dish
Crank: Stock
Rods: GM 5.7 (HT383 clearanced)
Intake: Edelbrock RPM air gap
Heads: Canfield 195cc Int., 65cc chamber
Exhaust: Headers 1 5/8 primaries, long tube
Ignition: MSD HEI

Trans: 350T (later 200R4)
Converter: stock
Differential: 3:73 posi
Tires: 30" (275/60/17)
Vehicle: '72 C-10 short/fleet
Usage: Street only, probably won't spin over 5500rpm

That would be a very good and torquey monster. It should do what you want it to do. Only thing, If at all possible Id limit your static comp a little. Keeping it a safe 9.5:1 or so isnt gonna hurt your power, but it will be a little safer....even with the aluminum heads. Actually, with a 22cc dish piston and keeping everything else the same(those canfields are 65cc heads right) your at roughly 9.6:1 comression and roughly 8:1 DCR. With your current set of stuff, your at like 8.3:1 DCR with the 10:1 static comp. Thats doable, but it can be hard especially if you depend on this vehicle for regular driving and it will see many different types of driving sutuations and environments. Id really not change anything but spec out a 22cc piston and you will be plenty happy. Heck, even the 274 cam wouldnt be too much of a beast in that motor, but based on DD, your peak would occur at basically 5500 with that cam. And, Id keep your pistons with that one, but if you really want brute right off idle torque, go with the 268. It will be good for about 5500rpm as well(like you want).

Greg, thanks for the feedback and insight on static compression. As far as dynamic compression goes, I don't really have a handle on what these numbers mean yet. For the motor above, 3 diffenent software tools give the 3 different numbers as follows: Engine Analyzer - 7.75, Keith Black web calculator - 8.7, and Pat Kelly calculator - 8.9.

sounds like a nice package, I have a very similar setup on my 406, only I have afr195's, running around 10:1 comp. I just have a straight grind crane energizer with .480 lift and 284 deg. dur. 1.5 rockers also running a rpm airgap and 750 holley vac sec. TH350 tranny
Very streetable yet lots of torque. I was able to get my 68' in the high 12's @ 108mph with 3.36 gears and no slicks last summer which is better then I expected with such a small cam.
heres what the dyno 2000 comes up with for mine
(I have not messed with the program that much but I tried to enter the actual head flow #'s and cam specs so it might be fairly close)
max hp 436 at 5500rpm, max torque 456 at 4000 rpm
tq is over 400 ft lbs all the way from 2000 rpm to 5500rpm. I think you will like it unless you are looking for an all out race motor then you might want to go with a roller package with more lift.

sounds pretty good, but even with the 268 cam you'll want at least a 2200-2500 stall convertor.

I have a similar motor in my 66 Nova with 10.3:1 compression and a 224° cam. I use SPII iron heads and a q-jet carb and it runs very well on 91 octane. Runs 11.70's @ 117, tows trailers and gets 16 mpg running in the fast lane. Your DCR as calculated by EA3.0 is 7.45, far below the low 8's as derived on other calculators. We ran an XE268 in a 10.5:1 iron-headed 355 on 91 octane with no problems at all. I think you're going to be just fine with the 10:1 compression and aluminum heads.
A 2500 stall converter made for a mild 350 will stall at close to 3000 rpm behind the 406.

DQ, combo. sounds great (I'm very close to same set-up).

400 +.030
TRW's est. 10.2:1
200cc protoplines (iron) "new, not installed yet"
CC280H (.486 I/E) 110LS,106CL
2200stall (fashes to 2800+ with traction)

Thanks for the validation on the combo. It's always great to hear other opinions, especially from experienced Chevy guys.

I added a comp 268XE and a set of pocket ported Dart II heads on a stock rebuilt parts store 400 short block. The engine was topped with an Edelbrock RPM Air Gap and a 3310 Holley, and 1 5/8" headers. The combo made a great daily driver and could blow the tires away at will.