first off, no bashing. I'm slowly starting to understand about and continue to research and read about this.

at any rate, I was thinking of building an b18b1 block. for starters, i was thinking that jdm p30 pistons would increase compression to approximately 11.1:1. Now, from reading posts about this, without a more aggressive cam, that would not make a significant difference on a stock LS with stock internals other than the pistons. correct?
Which, if I am going to get, say crower 403's, then i probably ought to get upgraded valvesprings/retainers etc to avoid any valve float above redline...
it seems that at this point in the game, there is a decent amount of money invested in the LS head/cams and pistons (under 1k) + tune (500$) for a head that stil won't flow well and for what, maybe 160whp? the final stage would then be a pnp which increase flow and decreases budget funds...
It sounds that at this point, we are talking under 2k invested for an LS that ought to put down 160-170 whp... with a good tune...

So, being that the above numbers are gross estimates, is there any point in building such motor?

In other words, would you sugest to keep the LS stock and just be happy with it with basic mods (I/H/E) as it's an improvement from SOHC or what mods can be done to improve horsepower/torque on a minimal budget?

any thoughts? feel free to correct any erroneous statements above. Don't tell me I could get a boosted LS or SOHC or spend the money on a Gsr etc... this isn't the question at hand here.

thanks
opinions/experience/thoughts are welcome!