LA 360 budget build ideas

Car is going to be a semi daily driver as weather permits. My goal for the car is strictly a cruiser ( looking at getting a 1973 duster ). Gas mileage isn't a huge concern but yet I'm for better than 5mpg. Rear gearing, I thought about either a 3.23 or a 3.55 gear ratio. I don't want the engine spinning at 3,500 rpm's at 70 mph. If I need to change the torque converter that's okay. Are mopar small blocks known for coil bind with cams over a 0.515" lift? I thought about running the pistons at zero deck height, with a head gasket that has a 0.039" compressed thickness and 1.880" intake valve's, will I have piston to valve clearance issues? Do I need to run closed chamber heads? I'm wanting to select the right parts so that my combination will work well. Also, if I was to buy bare cylinder heads are the seats already cut for a certain size valve? Since my goal isn't 400+ horsepower I was thinking of using 1.880" intake valve's and 1.600" exhaust valve's with a comp valve job and back cutting the valve's, bowl clean up. Am I going in the right direction or am I totally wrong?

Lots of questions…. Whew! Your on the right path.
Zero decking the pistons will not be needed. However if you went that route with a set of KB-107’s & a older letter head which fall in around 72cc’s, you’ll have a 9.8-1 ratio with that .039 head gasket. In order to drop that .8 in ratio, you’ll need a pretty thick gasket.
Don’t zero deck it.

You’ll have no issues with a 1.88 or 2.02 valve and clearance. The OEM heads can take more lift. Don’t worry about how much lift you’ll need. The cams I listed will do the job. You don’t need to run closed chambered heads. Aftermarket heads are cut to run bigger valves, so they need to be matched.

Oddly enough, I just seen the new engine masters where they make 360-365 hp from a 5.9 Magnum. Those stock heads are a little better than stock LA heads. That engine is @ 9.0-1.