Frank,
I too love the 049 and the 781 oval open chamber heads, after a little work on them. Sure would be nice if they were done in aluminum. In my opinion it is the best street/strip head there is while comparing factory offerings including the bigger 990 and other rectangle ports. Those 781 and 049 ;s rock with 2.19 and 1.88 valves, little bowl or pocket work and raising the exhust a little and a little exhuast and intake smooting.
I know the cast crank will handle over 600 hp and the steel crank can handle up to over 1,200 hp. The 3/8 rods with pressed pins with ARP bolts and side beam polishing with shot peening can handle a ton of power. The 7/16 with bushed floated pins can handle more.
For a 550 hp to 650 hp budget engine, it would be hard to build any other engine for less money.
Also you can buy Weiand Team G and Edlebrock Victor Jr on Ebay for those for very little. I like the Team G with the plenum divider spacer for street.
Ed