Is the improvements to the new LA heads, enough to not reproduce the W-2 head anymore

A friend/customer had been running 12.3-12.6 & 109-107 depending on temps
baro/humidity etc., with a 340 TA headed 6bbl.,9.7:1 AAR. He had purchased W2's, and I was
prepared to port them for his new stroker combo.But his desire to keep the 6pak and the cost
of changes incl. headers,which the custom extra capacity pan another friend had built around
made him decide on LA-X Indy's. It ran like a monster,till a week ago,when he had to pull over
for a solid misfire. After taking the covers off and running thru' the valves he spotted it,the
retainer for exh.#8 was up against the rocker,the valve wasn't that far down in the head but..
...... I am waiting for an update.Modern combustion chambers and port tech. make the W2 an
outdated head for most applications,which are not Pro-Stock level efforts.Yes ported correctly
w/ large valves the high port W2's may still be king for flow,but most modern heads will run
better on 80% of the engines out there.