I have a '99 hardtop with the following bolt on engine mods currently done:
Breathless racing LT headers into high flow cats to SLP loudmouth axle back
Hand ported LS6 intake manifold with ported OEM size throttle body
Breathless racing high flow air bridge
modified stock air filter box with K&N drop in filter
and a tune from Doug at ECS.

I have a set or ported and mildly milled 853 casting heads that has NEW PAC 1218 springs, Ti retainers and a 5 angle valve job that I will be installing along with LS7 lifters hardened push rods, high flow melling oil pump and C5R timing chain...none of these parts are installed yet.

I have a lightly used thunder racing 224r 112 lsa cam (224/224 .563/.563 112 lsa) that I am going back and forth about using. The previous owner only put about 5000 miles on the setup before pulling the motor, parting out and building a supercharged stroker. The cam is smooth and shows no wear. I'm not worried about using the cam...just not sure it's the right cam after thinking about it over and over and over. And all of these builds and sound clips don't help either. lol

I see alot of guys are running over .600 lift but I'm trying to avoid that since the PAC1218 springs are rated at .600 lift max and the heads I have while ported and having a valve job already done will flow better than stockers but still not quite as good as others. I will also be upgrading the fuel injectors since the stockers will be inadequate...likely a set of 42 lbs SVO red tops or comparable if I can find them.

I know that the 224r 112 lsa cam is a tried and true design and a pretty decent street cam. But I would like to get more lope and choppy idle as well as performance. I like the sound of the Comp Cams ***** Thumpr but have heard they are all sound and not much for performance gains.

I have been thinking about getting a custom ground cam...something like a 224/230 .56X/.57X 110 or 111 lsa for a little more "umph", a lower torque band and that lopey lope idle.

With the parts I have would a custom cam make more sense for that sound and performance gain or should I keep looking at off the shelf cams that will work with my heads and springs? I'm torn...the 224r cam can put down some solid numbers with these heads and supporting mods but I'd like more lope. I don't know...I'm likely overthinking it since I'm still on a tight budget and collecting the parts as I can.

Currently I use the car as my main daily driver/commuter car. It has 148000 miles on it and still runs like a champ. It's a '99 Hardtop (6 speed manual car) and has an LS6 clutch in it already (replaced by the previous owner at 90k miles). I don't plan on tracking the Vette...maybe down the road some HPDE road course type of stuff but no drag strips...straight line if fun but handling in the twisties is what I enjoy.

Hoping members in here can provide insight or a name of someone to get in touch with and discuss more in depth. Thanks in advance.