It is a bit of a catch 22. Spend a comparable amount of money on the iron heads vs aluminum heads that should be checked out before machining (more $$$) or just port the OE head?

A iron 360 head can go pretty far. Ported, it is comparable to the aluminum. But that is about as far as you can go while the aluminum head can still yet be ported!
IMO, there is nothing wrong with a ported 360 head. Let's just say it ports out as well as OOTB Edelbrock heads. Price out the cost vs the Edelbrock head and a few bucks more
For machinist checknup before use.

Catch 22!