I decided to go with the Vortech v1 (yes, I am old) long before I went with any head/cam options and actually found this to be quite a fun ride. To give you an idea of the mods/power I had:
Cobra intake manifold (original but not sure if that matters)
70mm TB
80mm Mass air
shorty unequal headers
bassani OR/X
Magnaflow CB
Smog Delete
AFM Power pipe
I strapped that on and went to the dyno with zero tuning. My a/f ratios were actually good and I put down 296/320 and I believe it peaked around 5100 RPM or so. Factory cam and heads just all the bolt ons. I had other simple things like plug wires, 30 lb'ers etc but thats not pertinent. I eventually bought a set of TFS heads and an Ed Curtis custom grind. Long story short it was a blast in both forms but I did the SC route first and agree with the sentiment to blow first, breathe later!