Earnie: "carb (MUST be chrome or polished)?" I am shocked
that an advocate for cast iron blocks and heads, flat tappets and other original stuff (commendable) would allow his friend to polish or chrome plate his carburetor. A chrome plated or polished aluminium air cleaner covers most of the carb anyway, and a turkey pan (polished, if you must) would cover more yet. Perhaps polished stainless throttle linkage. Line the engine compartment with aluminium sheet. Save the bling for the tuners.
For the street, unless you really like adjusting your valves, I would recommend a moderately radical cam with juice lifters and a compression ratio not over 10:1. My 10.7:1 makes for a nice exhaust note, but 100 octane gas is just too expensive. I wouldn't do anything too fancy on the heads, but matching the ports and removing casting crap seems to make sense. Have fun with the build. Rich