L88 cam in L78?

[Chevy454]

Some things to consider...

The L-88 intake is gonna be a single plane (open plenum), as opposed to the 163 dual plane of the L-78/L-72. The open plenum is geared towards the upper RPM range, and is gonna hurt anything geared towards the low end or lower-mid range. Also, I'm gonna *guess* the 950 is a double pumper? If so, it's not exactly the optimum street carb...I myself favor a vacuum secondary carb. The 4.56 gears will help keep the revs up for the big intake/carb combo, so the rest of the combo is geared towards revs. That means you'd better have a good valvetrain, and you're almost gonna have to have a fairly healthy cam to make best use of the other components. Now, being in a relatively light car and being a 4-speed will help.

Like everyone has stated, the 143 or something equivalent is gonna be better for the street and will have vacuum, but as you start edging towards the L-88 range of cams drivability and vacuum become concerns. And, some people can tolerate more/less than others. But, you may need to turn some RPM's to fully use the intake/carb combo. Wayne's pure stock L-88 Corvette made 571hp with a custom grind. Shoot him an email and see what cam and vacuum he's got: nelson66@REMOVE_ME_ecenet.com

Now, my recommendation. The rule of thumb on carbs and cams is that it's better to go too small as opposed to too big. I think you'd be fine to go with the 143 cam, and it would do what you want. But, a call to Comp and Crane would be your best bet, if nothing more than to get another opinion. I'm gonna guess Comp will steer you towards the Muscle Magnum cam, but be sure and ask about idle and vacuum quality.