BTW, "concave going out" is called "convex".
The base Edelbrock Performer cam is something like 204/204 @ 50 lift, 0.420 or 0.425 lift, it is really one step over stock 360 cam and should be a really nice cam for basically stock 318.
So it's a mild cam and will work with stock springs.
I think there's a really good chance that it'll just slap together and run. Here's a few suggestions:
Test fit the lifters in the holes. You don't want a tight lifter in the bore. You may have to swap them around so every lifter will move easily in the bore.
Make sure the outside surfaces of the lifter are free of varnish and lubricate them with motor oil. Don't put cam assembly lube on the sides of the lifters.
Back in the day, some chevy lifters came out of the box with "too shiny" a surface. It was recommended to spin them and lightly tough the end with 1000 grit, IIRC, wet-or-dry paper.
To be sure the ends are still convex, put two lifters end-to-end and rock them. If they rock they're OK, still convex. If not toss'em.
Lifter quality may be improving, but there are enough substandard lifters floating around in the food chain that I'd rather use a known quantity (existing lifters).
Use cam assembly lube on the camshaft and bottom of lifters.
Make sure the engine fires right up, then do the cam break-in.
It occurs to me that when the factory test-fired the engine they didn't use any specific method to break in the lifters.
R.
