How right you are, Ed. Some sort of adjustability needs to be available to properly phase the cam to the piston position. As little as 2 degrees off can make a serious difference.
On mild cams, such as typical production grinds, this is not so important, but with longer duration specialty cams, it is very important to get the cam timing "just right".
Just bolting in a new cam and hoping that everything is OK, doesn't get it.
