Slant Six Build Ideas

though the guy doing my machine work didn't "laugh in my face" when I took him my slant, I could tell he wasn't "crazy" being that I was wanting something worked on that wasn't a V8. I told him not to laugh when I came in with it. He does do a bunch of 4 banger IH and JD tractor stuff, but most of those aren't there to be "built-up", just rebuilt to run.... When I dropped the heads off (took em 2, hoping at least 1 was usable, after I bowl-hogged them-- I figured I'd wrecked the 1st one) he gave me an "Oh, my GAWD, what happened to the BOWLS on this head"? and I took him the springs, OS valves and stem seals, and told him what I wanted.
A week later when I picked up the block crank and rods/pistons, and "settled up" to that point, I asked him about the heads, and he was in a better "mood" (for lack of a better way to put it) and showed me his progress from where I had left off and seemed a bit more ambitious about the build, and also said that once he had gotten into it, in his opinion I really hadn't done that bad, had more than a "good start" on porting the head I though sure was toast. In his estimation, I am adding "at least 20hp" by the porting job...... (his words, I never asked) just gotta get my replacement set of main bearings so I can get the bottom end wrapped up, and get him a "in the hole" measurement of the piston at TDC so we can figure out how much to shave.... and that the shave would be the last thing we do to that head.
I guess the fact that I kept checking up on him, brought the parts for it as asked for, (didnt keep him waiting) paid for work done "so far" and have been asking Qs along the way, he realized that "I'm serious" about getting this engine together.....