I had a clevite "performer" RV cam for a while, It was the same specs as the Edelbrock performer with a 110* lobe seperation, In my 304 it didnt want to build good power till I was around 1500+rpm's. I replaced it with an Engle cam with 112* lSA in the .280 lift range and a higher duration. It pretty much turned my 304 into a tractor, I can pull pretty good from 400-4500rmp's.

I recommend an edelbrock performer intake and around a 600-650 carb with vacuum secondaries, dont go with a double pumper you'll only waste fuel, it wont help you at all down low. In my case I tried a Holley and could not get it to dial in right, always had a flat spot and stumble off idle. switched to an edelbrock 600 and once I got it dialed in, I havent touched it since, its always been right on with great throttle response.

While your doing it, look at an HEI ignition, they are about as reliable as they get and really help clean up the engine bay, not to mention they are a 1 wire setup and parts are stocked at just about any parts store so if you roach a module or a coil, your not waiting, you can be back on the road in under 20 minutes