Hi All. I recently bought my first W250, truck is an 82 with a 318 LA and 727. I'd like to wake up the Ole girl a little bit and was looking for recommendations for a cam, intake and carb. I'm not the most mechanically knowledgeable guy so picking the proper setup is over my head. I'd like to just add a Cam if possible. Motor is stock to the best of my knowledge. Runs great, has no issues just feels quite underpowered.

What type of cam would you recommend? Also if I wanted to upgrade from the stock 2 barrel (I believe, just going off what I read) carb, sounds like I also need to do the intake? What would be a good option to choose? Only "performance" changes to the truck is the exhaust has been changed out to new mufflers and dumped by cab. Other than that I've just upgraded the front end, brakes, a lift and larger rubber. Truck is just a toy, doesn't get used daily, just the odd weekend rip or some fun in the mud.

 

I had an 83 equipped like yours and there are other good choices but I also did some other work on mine at same time I put a cam in. I swapped to magnum heads (1992-newer) added headers and true duals, an Edelbrock intake and carb, too. The cam I used was a stock replacement for a 360 2 barrel from late 70s. with the magnum heads and required Magnum valve gear the rocker arm ratio is a bit more than the LA, (LA=1.5:1, Magnum=1.6:1 meaning slightly more lift with same cam) This cam is a DEAD RINGER for a COMP 252 cam at less than half the price. ON:Y DIFFRERENCE between this cam and the 252? with the stock-for-LA series engine 1.5 rocker ratio the stock 360 cam has a lift spec of 0.410". The 252 has a lift of 0.425". that stock 360 cam with 1.6 rockers had 0.437" of lift. A very mild cam but made a HUGE difference to me. Though again I also did other things at the same time. All else being equal, 0.015" difference in lift doesn't mean much. But going from stock 318 .373 intake and 0.400" exhaust lift, along with the increase in duration, did make a noticeable difference. This thing idled like stock, same vacuum gauge readings as stock, but mileage and power improved. Many like the stock 4 barrel 340/360 cam for such an application and still a mild setup though a bit more than what I described here.
On my 83 D250 (yeah mine was 2wd) with the 727 and 3.55 gears these improvements made a huge difference, in a truck that was definitely used like one was meant to be used. Hauling, towing. Results may vary.