Closed Chamber Big Block Heads 516

Will these heads perform well without the larger exhaust valves?

I think you asked that in reverse, should have been will the 516's with the large exhaust valve perform noticeably better than with the small valves. Yes they will perform better with the large valves, how much depends on where your next cork in the system is. The factory even thought so when they made the large valve head (915) standard on the new HP 440 introduced in 67.