Hot Rods Looking for secret recipe

I have a sbc 355, 10:1 Looking for head and cam combo to get me 425-450hp, power band: idle-5500 rpm. Good lopy sound, very snappy response. I'm going crazy trying to come up with a combo that works together. Thank you

 

You're going to need really good heads to come close to an "honest" 425-450 hp - Think AFR fully cnc ported 200+cc runner - as far as cam is concerned, if you only care about the peak number a flat tappet will get you there fine, but a roller might get you the broader curve you seem to be after - not sure your 5500rpm limit will let you get to the peak goal.....

 

First thing is to have a clear purpose in mind for the car, this is very important.
As to the camshaft, if you have a brand in mind (some people pick a name that might impress their pals), focus on just that brand and for the most part, mfgs are reasonably compe***ively priced but you should have an overall budget figured out.
Then call the tech department of chosen brand and tell them your intended purpose for the car, tell them the vehicles weight, ALL of the major components, such as transmission, rearend gear ratio, the other major engine components you are considering (if not bought yet) such as heads, intake, headers, etc.
If you have these now they will suggest a camshaft they think is appropriate.
As to heads the above also applies but I'm partial to Air Flow Research, they have a pretty broad offering and have always given consistant results as to dyno numbers, which I might add, the dyno is the only true way of knowing whether you have hit your goal.
Achieving real horsepower numbers can be like chasing rabbits, meaning it looks like it would be easy, it's not.
One other thing I always stress is to have your distributor set up on a distributor machine regardless whether it is brand new or not.

 

That's it....is there some reason you have that HP number in mind, besides bragging rights?

It sounds to me like you have conflicting requirements. Perhaps you could step back for a minute, and decide what is really important? Lopey idle? Good low rpm driveability? Keeping the displacement at 355? Meeting some HP number?

 

434 Nova on yellowbullet is selling new AFR 195 for $1550 shipped ($1700 from mail order guys) Add a 270 advertised cam, a tall dual plane like PP Typhoon, a Slayer 600 and CI manifolds that don't make noise, need retightening, rust through or lose much running through a full exhaust.

 

Edelbrock, and probably others sell top end kits. Heads, Intake and camshaft. All dyno proven combinations.