Sort of a long story, but induction on mine has changed a bit over the years, but the bottom end has stayed the same since I put it together in 2006
4.277 X 4.25, Diamond Pistons, 10.7:1, SCAT crank and rods. .002 below deck, Erson E240322 solid flat tappet, Heads are 2006 era Craft Stage 2 that have had more work done to them, Erson rockers. Specs on the cam are 286/294, 242/246, 110 LSA on 106, .595 lift, however, over the years I have gone from the original .028 lash down to .014 which livens it up a bit.
Originally, I built this combo with a 3.70 gear, TKO-600 with .64 OD, a ported Edelbrock RPM, 1000 Holley, recurved Unilite and 3 inch exhaust with Flowmasters Later I changed to Borla mufflers which made it much easier on the ears and I think I picked up more midrange. It was very nice to drive and had plenty of power, but I found myself driving by ear on the highway and I would just end up going way too fast. Sort of creeping up to 80+ which isn't a big deal in Nebraska, but the guys I hung out with didn't have the power or gearing to run that fast for long distances, so I would always have to hold back on the highway. I also wanted to play around with other combos.
I then regeared to 4.11 and it was better everywhere, both mileage and power (I run 275/60-15 rear tires). Then I added EFI, I run port injected EFI based off a 1993 Mustang OEM computer with a Quarterhorse piggy back chip. The EFI also controls the timing, I run a ported Victor intake now and a 1200 cfm throttle body. After the EFI, I started tightening the lash and the engine liked it. The EFI basically made the cam act a lot milder so I was able to be a little more aggressive with lash.
Haven't been down a 1/4 mile, but it runs very strong, if I roll on the throttle to WOT, it comes up on cam in 3rd gear and will break the tires loose on a highway on ramp and sort of drift as long as I will hold it. Driving it for so long it's predictable and can still get the heart pumping
For yours, I think the 55 or so cube difference and less rear gear should drive a little less cam, assuming you plan to put some miles on it. However, assuming nice early cam timing to help 5th gear, your advertised should stay about the same as mine with the compression you are running. Additionally, the smaller the engine the more you want to tighten LSA to help with WOT torque, but you need to think about it a bit, because too tight can be sloppy at low RPM in 5th when you are cruising. My hunch is a limit of about 70-75 degrees of overlap after you pick your lobes, and lower is better if you plan to cruise more than race.
Regardless, hate to beat this so hard, but I think you need to either do a max effort valve job and bowl clean up on your heads or go with aftermarket. I don't think a stock set of Edels are worth much to you over a well prepared set of CJ heads, but a good higher end set of of alum heads will make more power everywhere without hurting behavior in 5th.
As far as the discussion on EFI or carb, If you are going to drive the wheels off this car, a good big dollar EFI can't be beat. The throttle body kits, not as much, but will still be much more drivable and allow many benefits, fan control, idle control with a/c etc, but aren't that controllable and likely won't add WOT power. That being said, I had no issues doing anything with the carb version of the 489 and my F100 with both the stroker and the mild 390 in it now behaves great once it warms up. The difference in the EFI is mileage and cold start and immediate drive, like a new car. The 445 will get a throttle body EFI kit eventually though
Not to beat a dead horse, but for a second reference, my truck motor, a 445 with ported iron heads, RPM and a 1000 Holley, 10:1, I ran a solid flat tappet cam very similar to what you have now but quite a bit more lift. It by no means acted like a truck motor, it pulled very hard and was pretty rev happy for what it was. It had less compression, but more head flow than you, and a bit more cubes. (I say was because I had some machining issues and it's out right now) However, with your compression, I think your combo as it is, is going to be very fussy on pump gas. You could retard the cam a bunch (6+ degrees) or recam. I think the right choice is a new cam because you can add lift and add exhaust lobe, retarding the cam would indeed help fuel tolerance, but the cam is a bit of a snoozer and would get soft in 5th gear rocked that far back
Sort of guessing at your plan, and sorry for the long post, but fire away if you have questions
