Years ago, long stories laced with opinion on build combinations used to be my forte. Now, my life seems to have gotten in the way, too. I am sorry to hear about your son's accident. I hope he's OK.
If you're in Bakersfield (as your member ID suggests) the shop you should use (IMHO) for all your work is in Valencia. I'll send you a PM with their contact info.
About 5 years ago I posted some possible combos for 455, 428 and 400 motors, all of which I had built. They emphasized using easily-obtainable factory parts and were aimed at getting very good torque (for street driving) with very nice manners at the pump. They were also intended to be budget friendly. One thing I didn't try to do was predict which cam would be best for all the different possibilities. Cam selection - the topic here, I think - will be a never-ending discussion.
