Mud truck suggestions?

I have a 91 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4 that I'm working on building a mud truck out of. I just started so I haven't done anything to it but here are my plans as of now. (they may change a little as I go along). I'm wanting to make the 350 into a 383 stroker with a pretty big cam and some vortec heads. I don't know much about cams so I would need some suggestions on a good one. And I'm thinking of getting flat top pistons. Is that a good idea? And also I wanna run at least 38" tires. What gears should I use? And it has a granny 4 speed tranny in it, should I keep it with the high rpm engine or swap it to a different one? I don't know a lot about all this so y'all will have to bear with me on some stuff. Pretty much what I wanna end up with is a bad@@@ mud truck.

I really wanna get a cam that gives the truck a nice loping sound.  

I have a 1980 Chevy k20 long wheel base built for mud pits. I run a 383. It has 10,000 miles of many, many races. If it is built right, it will give you many trouble free races. The SM 465 (granny) tranny is indeed a very stout gearbox, near indestructible. The only problems I had with mine was when the clutch got wet it was very hard to deal with in the mud. If you plan on racing it, you can forget getting a quick shift in the hole. I ended up pulling mine out and put in a TCI 400 full comp. Some of the other guys will chime in but I think the vortec heads will limit you on cam lift. I noticed you were wanting a big cam for the sound. You may have to spend some money on machine work on the heads to get the lift you want. As far as the pistons, it really depends on the deck height, head cc etc before the piston will be determined. You have to decide what CR you are going to run and if you will be putting it on the street. I run 4.56:1 gears with 38.5 boggers. I should have went lower. I run a NP205 Transfer and show it no mercy. I have heard that they are one of the best from the assembly lines. My motor should be around 490 HP and puts down a tad over 500 foot lbs. I dont run a big cam though. I built my rig for torque/hole shot. It is a heavy truck. I shift at 5K and I limit it at 6K. I have done several back to back runs because of cheezy time clocks and it gets it done and gets me in the money everytime.  

That's precisely the kinda info/advise I'm looking for! Thanks! So what kinda heads would you suggest? And I'm not intending on racing it so I'm not worried about quick shifts or anything like that. Do you have any idea what my stock years might. E in my truck? I believe it's a 14 bolt rear end. And can you kinda explain can lift in easy to understand terms? When I look up cams they give me the specs and stuff but it's like another language to me. What would be good cam lift? And I don't plan on going on the street much maybe just to work and back a time or two to show it off lol.

Thanks for the advice!  

Cam selections are so complicated with out considering the whole package. One component can kill the performance of the complete package. If you are going to stay on pump gas, you will need to stay in the 9.0 to 10.0:1 compression ratio to avoid detonation. You can run it a little higher with aluminum heads. I run AFR heads. Invest in your heads. You have to think of the motor as an air pump. You need good flow in with a right sized carb, intake with min. restriction through the heads. Good headers to evacuate the exhaust. If you over cam the engine, it may sound good but it will be a turd. This and over carburetion are the two most common mistakes. Decide what RPM range you want to run. If you stay around 6K on the high end it may not cost you as much. Here is an idea. Look through the Jegs magazine at their motors they sell. Find the HP and torque range that you are looking for. Write down the specs and that can give you a good place to start shopping for your cam and internals. There are thousands of choices. As far as the ratio on your final drive, if it is not noted in the glove compartment, it could be from 3.42 to 4.56.  

What set up do you have? I may steal your set up to avoid putting the wrong combination of parts together.. I am however wanting to stick with the tbi set up. Any suggestions on what would be best for that?  

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I've been having a hard time finding info on a good intake for tbi. How hard would it be to convert to carb and what all would I need to change?  

I am sure that a good HEI distributor would be one thing, brackets and hardware for around the intake. Not to mention the fuel pump arrangement. I am probably not your best candidate for advice on that project.I have built most carb engines. A few stock TBI units and a few modified v-8s and v-6's with TBI. I never actually put a carbed engine in an EFI or TBI vehicle.

I would probably find a good salvage yard to buy all of the hardware and brackets etc.

Jegs sells edelbrock TBI intakes and I know there are many goodies to build up the TBI engines. I have seen some awful stout injected motors out there.  

Yea, I'll have to look up more info on it. Sounds like it would be a hassle. I've still got a little while before I'm gonna even start buying parts so I'm sure ill change my mind half a dozen times lol  

What do I need to look for to know if a set of heads will work good with whatever intake I buy? Or vice versa.  

Go to the Comp Cam website and download the cam Quest and build you a motor on there. It is free and pretty cool. It will give you a selection of recommended cams for your application. You can pick out the RPM range you want. You can look at the approximate Dyno results. I put a moderate engine together with the info you gave me so far and built a 350 HP with a pretty mild combo. When you select the heads you can try stock or ported or performance. There are several heads available. Cast and Alum. When you shop for heads they will usually give you an RPM range and comp ratio calculated with several different set ups. If you want torque, think velocity. Smaller runners. If you want to turn it higher in the RPM think more volume. The right package will produce good torque and horsepower. Edelbrock and other companies sell top end packages with heads, intakes and cams. If built right they probably get close to the advertised HP. Be realistic though. Dependable HP cost $$$ Build it with junk and you will get what you pay for.  

Sweet thanks! I'll give it a shot!  

Does it matter what type of cam I use as far as hydraulic roller follower, hydraulic roller tappet, flat tappet, or mechanical? I have no idea what the one in my truck is or if it would matter which one i choose. Which is the best in your opinion?  

I assumed your motor was a roller motor. The roller setup is better in my opinion but it just cost more. It allows you to use a lot more aggressive cam profile which you won't need since you are staying with the stock TBI. The roller setup makes a lot less friction which is worth significant horsepower in itself. On the other side some roller set ups can be RPM limited because of the component weights. I still prefer the roller.