Interesting thoughts.

As stated below, optimizing what you already have will yield bigger bang for the dollar spent than going "all-out."

If the engine runs well, you may be able to just clean up the bores and either re-ring (total seal... very nice) or go the first overbore. Larger bore won't help you a great deal.

Careful measurement on tear-down or a pre-build with new pistons in #1 and #6 will tell you the deck height (distance from piston crown to top of block at TDC). It will also tell you if the block needs machining to equalize the heights (possible!).

Putting calipers on your old head-gasket will give you an approximate gasket thickness to use in calculations.

c.c. the head to get approximate chamber volumes (they will change with every repair/modification) so you can start to estimate CR and what will need to change to approach a target CR (9+ with clean combustion chambers and pump gas... maybe higher if you get the squish zone down to the gnat's a**). The head may require some straightening/balancing grind too. If you have the choice, have the head "bent" back into true instead of grinding it flat (especially if it is quite warped). Balancing combustion chamber volume can be done but it is a long process with lots of burette time!
Grinding on the head can turn it into junk in a hurry, however, judicious grinding can help flow tremendously. I suggest getting some literature on the topic and do the least amount of metal removal. Getting rid of flash, obvious inclusions, ripples, etc. can only help. "Match porting" may or may not be of use. Polishing is a waste of effort and may be detrimental. Blending the valve seats into the port is a big winner (but takes the most skill). Blending the valve seats into the combustion chamber (minor unshrouding) and smoothing will help flow and flame propigation a great deal.

HIF6 carbs are quite tuneable but needle selection can drive you wild. It is best from a first-timer's perspective to find other people who have gone the route successfully and copy them!

Once the block and head are optimized (within the limit of your budget) the rest should be cake. Plastigauge the mains and big end bearings on tear-down (if they pass visual inspection) to see if you have excessive slop. New bearings will tighten up the clearance but not a lot unless the old bearings were far gone (down to the steel backing). Figure a couple thou, maybe four. If your clearances are much over tolerance plus, say, two thou, you will be best served to get th crank reground to the next undersize...

New oil pump. Don't argue!

Grinding off casting flash and rounding sharp corners in the block will help longevity and assist oil travel back to the sump.

Custom exhaust manifold will perk up the beast quite a bit.

Dunno 'bout the cam to suggest... I see the "K" grind is mentioned a lot but that may not like the carbs a lot.

Think "efficient." It will cost enough to just do that!

--
Mike!