383 head questions

Probably not a bad idea to at least use a set of new stock springs unless the ones on there are new. Pretty sure the 335hp stock cam was a pretty mild cam...about .450" lift with nice slow ramps so not very demanding or punishing on springs, but if you're rebuilding the engine from the ground up, new springs would be a good investment.

You can use the fel-pro permatorque gaskets...no need to coat them with spray rtv or retorque them. It will drop your CR by a little compared to stock shim gaskets, but not enough to bother you or make it run like ****.