That cam is not really going to be fun. It has a relatively low lift and a lot of duration. Not really something I would call a very streetable cam. When I get home tonight I will dig out my old Clifford catalog. His cams were always more expensive but he had grinds that made sense, even if he exaggerated how much additional power they would make. I can at least give you some idea of what he was recommending. Me personally, I might want to see something in the .430 lift range with like 264 degrees of duration. That would be a pretty mild street cam. One thing you can do, is send the cam to Schneider Cams in San Diego for a regrind. He has two of mine as we speak for regrinding. Ask for Jerry Cantrell (he is the boss) tell him what you are doing, the vehicle, weight, use, transmission and he will give you a recommendation. they are currently running 4-6 weeks with their regrinds.
The new blue composite gaskets are pretty good. I don't believe the compressed volume is any different then the copper clad gaskets but they could be. You have raised the issue and now you have me curious so I will email felpro and ask.
On the .060 cut, usually you would want to sink the intake valves that amount when you get beyond .030. There is a rub though. Once you sink the intake valves, you have to shim the rocker stands the same amount and then use a lash cap on the exhaust valve, or sink the exhaust valve the same amount (which you really don't want to do because that combustion chamber is pretty bad and you will just make it worse.)
With that head, you should check the piston to valve clearance and that will require you to obtain a few tools, and make one tool, to do it correctly. First you will have to make a piston to valve stop tool. Then, you will need a dial indicator with magnetic stand, checking spring for the head, an extra head gasket, degree wheel, crank turning socket. You first determine absolute tdc, then you check piston to valve clearance starting at 10 degrees before TDC, 5 degrees before TDC, TDC, 5 after, 10 after, 15 after. Generally, the valve will be closest to the piston at 10 after. You are looking for like .070 or better clearance at the closest point.
This is a 261 my son and I were putting together. I had one cam on the shelf and it was pretty big. Not really right for flat top pistons and 7.5 compression ratio but he wanted to try to get to a show and so we stuffed the cam in and with the larger 50 powerglide valves, we had .023 piston to valve clearance which was entirely too close. So that is when we called Schneider, and Cantrell told us what he recommended, and I sent out two cams, a never used clifford regrind from the late 80s (way too big now even for me) and a stock cam. The new grind will be smaller in both duration and lift to solve the clearance problem. These are some of the photos to sort of show you the process.
