Mike, you nailed it... I sure do have something to say!
The heads and manifold are wonderful. They look good and work great. The roller tip rockers fit under stock valve covers and reduce friction a bit and are adjustable to boot.
Camwise I have good advice... if you want the simplest possible build yet good strong power (monster torque is of course a given) go with the Mondello JM 18-20 cam. I used this part 25 years ago and the motor was ubelievably strong while providing sufficient vacuum for the power brakes. This time around I went one step up with the JM 20-22 which has longer duration, higher lift and most critically a 110 degree lobe angle vs. the 112 degree angle of the 18-20 stick. This turns out to be just enough to kill vacuum to the point where I ended up replacing the stock vacuum brake booster with a Hydroboost unit from an Eldorado. This necessitates some whacking of the exhaust pipe to provide clearance for the accumulator that is part of the new booster.
I also should note that I have yet to get the motor fully tuned. My carb is a Summit Racing Q-jet for a BB Chevy (you cannot use the stock carb on the aluminum intake as you must have an electric choke). This carb seems to have bigger jets than I need and probably needs some major tuning. This motor just is not quite right yet as throttle response is not great and it does not rev happily. Not to say that the car is not powerful, I just know what it should be like and therefore know I have significant tuning to do. Much of this will be solved when I upgrade to Fuel Injection and some form of digital ignition this winter so I am not going to bother fiddling with the carb.
So... what should you do? If you do not want to deal with the customizations then go with the 18-20 and know you will have a ridiculously powerful car. I had mine up to about 165 MPH when I was young and particularly stupid
and that car did 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. Never did a quarter mile with it so have no data on that. It was originally a 1968 W-34 with bucket seats and center console; the OM transmission was definitely firmer than what I have now and the 2500 RPM stall converter I installed helped make launches a bit tricky as the wheels tended to break loose but power was always available as a result.
My current engine may well exceed that performance level - and it should based on the cam specs - but it is possible the exhaust manifolds might be a real limiting factor. Lynn over at Mondello just told me that they make headers for the Toronado...
he swears they fit; I have to admit I am slightly skeptical and while I am very happy with them so far I am aware of their somewhat unsavory reputation so I may well see if a local specialist can figure out how they did it and make me a set.
As for the rest, speak up if you are going to do a bottom end rebuild. At the very least I strongly recommend rebuilding the existing bottom end with new rings and a thoroughly inspected block and crank with new cam bearings. I reused my rods and (gasp) my rod bolts
along with my pistons as the motor had been recently redone before I got it. I do not intend to run this motor up to high RPMs so it should not be a problem; the motor I built 25 years ago certainly ran at high RPMs in the same condition so I should be fine. It is always best to replace the bolts, but it requires some machine work I did not want to do this time around so I went with the originals.
So far you have a solid kit, let us know what else you are doing and how it works out!