not to argue the point against bumping the ccompression, but I thought the idea was to just get this puppy just back running again the simplest way possible?
if he brings the heads down enough to raise compression, then wouldn't he be back to measuring and getting new pushrods? at which point he "might as well" do the aluminum heads and a new cam. I think at this point, the smart money is still on, get the heads back on the truck with the least work done as possible.
drive thru the summer and have a great time, and spend the next few months figuring out if you are going to do a LS or build the engine back up with the new heads and a few go fast goodies.
just get this thing moving so we can see how the suspension is working