351w Rebuild

Hello everyone..
I'm about to start on a rebuild of my 351w for and 88SN 2001.

What I hope to gain out of this rebuild is a better running boat and much more bottom end. I slalom ski and weigh 210lbs so I need a good amount to low end torque.
What I was thinking of doing was replace the heads with a set of GT40 heads that I have. Replace the cam (I think) and prop. I have some questions though and some have been touched on other posts. So here I go...

1)     Pistons: The motor was ok at best 2+ years ago (the last time I ran it) there was 1 weak cylinder and the rest were normal according to the mechanic. I think the weak cylinder was 8:1. So should I bore the block 30 over or just see what the walls look like after tear down? If so what pistons should I get? I think I would want to hold 9.5:1 compression for good all around performance right.
2)     Pistons: What this about installing pistons backwards (dot on top of piston facing the rear of the engine instead of the front?)
3)     Cam: I read a few posts about the cam upgrades and never saw any responses for 351 w/gt40 heads. So would a 492/510 be a good low end cam with good all-around performance? If not what would work best for my setup?
4)     Intake: I’m in brackish water so what can I use or get that will complement my heads, cam and carb, I’ve only seen performer RPM intakes in aluminum or is there others. My stock intake is fine (needs cleaning and dipping) but would this choke down the head ports? What should I do?
5)     Exhaust: I guess my only choice is stock PCM manifolds, do these flow enough for the GT40’s?
6)     Transmission: This will not be messed with since its fine. It’s a 1:1 velvet tranny.
7)      Fuel: Is the stock mechanical pump sufficient for my new set up?
8)     Carb: Holley 4160 600cfm the right size?
9)     Rocker Arms: Are they worth the $ I saw some say no and other say yes.
10)     Prop: I have a 13x13 3 blade prop, what would be the best prop for slalom skiing with my big butt on a deep water start.
11)     Gaskets: Any thing special here?
12)     
Any tips that you guys can give would be very helpful. So far this is what I have picked up on the forums.
1)     http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2367&KW=cam+spec
2)     piston to bore clearance needs to be .003"-.0045"
3)     I have a right handed motor so the front main seal, rear main seal, cam grind, dist gear, and starter are all rotation specific.


I used to have some old pictures of the boat when I bought it, the interior was in rough shape and the trailer underside bolts were rusting off but the hull was perfect and they painted it 98-99 to the 99 color scheme. Since I have had it I had the interior completely redone (some things were missing) and the trailer cleaned and painted to look new. Now it’s the motor’s turn.

you need to use a closed cooling system if you want the motor to last otherwise your waisting your money on the rebuild. This would not be the case in fresh water, but in salt conditions it's a must.