Hey zag ...
Put out a call for parts/donations. I for one would drop $20 to ya to fund the "experiment", and others probably would ship cams, valves, etc from junk cores. Wanna play with 1.3's? lots of them around

To me a small contribution to get the right recipie will pay off in the long run.
I enjoy the "build" of an engine too. I just hate when "that doesn't work right" ends up meaning I have to redo something

(e.g. cam grind or compression ratio, or ...). So you figure it out, I made my "contribution" the best I can, and all is good.