Just read through again something I noticed, one of the big reasons I said aluminum heads is you can run higher compression without the need for the higher octane due to most of todays aftermarket has better designed chambers and they handle it better. There are tons of guys out there with the mustangs that beat them and run them harder than 95% of us do our trucks and they don't have a issue with head gaskets. Look at the modulars iron block aluminum heads they don't have issues, heck there almost at 10:1!and burning 87octane. My 400 has the stock heads .010 shaved and 9:1 pistons and it likes 89+ octane.
EFI and cams thats all variables that can be done old engine cam tech. keeps improving well to a extent no varitalbe valve timing but for me being been to GM cert classes seeing all of this they can keep it. But efi is not bad to do on engines I am doing efi on my 400, I have a friend that has put eec-iv on big block chryslers small block chevys, eec-iv is very adaptible as long as you can tune it. My 92 f150 in my sig. is getting my 351W I just rebuilt with the addition of EEC-V from a 96 351w truck, why? SEFI MA and the V processor is much more efficent my 96 gets better economy that my 92 with a 5speed ever could.

Curtis