I see now, the small power gain was being compared to that same high-compression engine with agressive cams. Gotcha

Also, regarding the loss of low-end with porting/polishing. You'll get some of that back when you raise the compression. The reason you lose power with the porting (in case you're curious) is becuz you opened the intake/exhaust channels waaaaaay up, and decreased air velocity. In a way, the raised compression will balance that out. The lesser air charge will be squeezed harder, giving back some of that lost power. The increased stroke will also help.