The newest "building a slant six" thread

Take .080 off and slam it together. The rockers can take .100. TDC is not affected. Everything will drop ~.100 but should not affect anything. Quote us the price your paying for that mill job.

That's what I did. .080 cost me $80 by a very good machinist. Replacement head gaskets are about .040 and original steel are about .020 so down on compression without doing anything.
Valve job, hardened exhaust seats, I did some pocket porting. A little porting on the intake and exhaust manifolds, gasket matched, bigger exhaust. Still looks bone stock and runs on 87 octane.
Little inexpensive things that add up.