Greg,
Here's what I've leaned -
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I recently had the heads ported and changed to thicker head gaskets to lower the compression. Previously it was near 11.0 to one with 190+ cranking compression and detonated on the pump premium 91 octane gas we have here in CA.


It would help if you knew the current compression. With CR we can make a pretty good guess if the engine will be octane limited and less timing will be a neccessary work around. Do know the cc after the heads were cut?

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I have an AEM wideband EUGO air/fuel guage in the car with an O2 sensor in the RH header collector. Currently with the Grant 850 Demon carburetor I am able to get it to idle in the mid 14 ratio in neutral and in gear. Part throttle and full throttle are under 13.0 and even richer.



Assuming high overlap cam (compared to stock), a little richer at idle will be better. Better becaue it will make more power and therefore little to no drop in rpm when shifted from N to D on an automatic. Target idle AFR 12.7-13.5 Take a little initial timing out to match the richer mixture. This is a good reference for estimating initial timing based on cid, and cam duration.
http://www.demoncarbs.com/Tech/DemonSelectionGuide.asp

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I've stumbled along in life tuning cars by how they feel rather than using any type of guage. Most of my experience has been with stock or mildly modified engines. This car raises the stakes and I want to get it right.


Feel still has a place. Use it in conjunction with your WBO2 AFR for low speed, light throttle and cruising. If it feels weak or delay at low speed, you now will know what the AFR is, and see which tweak makes a change that helps. Same at highway. If you're driving at 60 mph and get lean surge, drop it to 55 and you'll see roughly how lean was too lean. Then install bigger main jets and see exactly if that helps 60 mph but also what impact it had on 55 mph.
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Is it fair to say that since I am able to get the A/F into range at idle, I should be able to get the part throttle and WOT into range with jets and power valves?


Yes. Although some BG and more recent Holley carbs need modifications to do this well. Try what have, as it is, first.
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Even though it reads that it is too rich, I smell no fuel and see no black smoke. I recall reading that for WOT the goal is in the 13.0 range but what is a good goal for part throttle?


WOT is a maximum load situation, especially in upper gears. Anywhere from 12.5-13.2 AFR depending on engine and fuel. With a little Eth mixed in, slightly richer will not surprise anyone. If more combustion cooling is needed, a little richer may be needed. Target range 12 - 13 in your case.
Part throttle depends on load and with a racy cam, rpm. At low rpm, richer mix is needed because of the exhaust diluting the air-fuel mix. Same issue as at idle as mentioned above. As rpm picks up, this problem goea away. Also load increases, lean mixtures can be used. How lean depends on your motor and loads. Drive it at 60 - 70 mph and see what it likes and how lean it will go at light throttle. At light throttle, when it gets too lean it will just try to die and then recover (surging). Don't wail on it! If there is too much timing, and you put load on it, bad things can happen and being lean isn't going to make it better.

At some point, as load increases, the mixture needs to get richer, much richer. This is when the power valve needs to kick in. When possible I like to dial in the WOT before the cruise. Safer in my opinion. Take it to the drag strip or a dyno and get best mph or hp under the curve. You can adjust this with the jets. Later, if there is a difference between the jets for best power and the jets for best cruising at 60 mph, you can look at the fuel curve and/or the power valve restrictions.
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Last week when I drove the car I felt a bit of an off idle stumble and lower idle vacuum. I thought I read here that it is suggested to set the timing to the highest manifold vacuum. Am I remembering that right? Currently it is set to 19 degrees initial and 33 total without vacuum


Uh. Alot of us thought that, but its not quite right. In neutral, there's no load, so you can keep adding timing and the engine loves it. You can then lean it to match and the engine loves that too. Then you put it gear and it goes. Ugh, the load is killing me.
Try setting the timing around 16 or 17, whatever the chart recommends. Then, using your vacuum gage, adjust the fine idle fuel mix for best vacuum. On an automatic, in theory set fuel mix for best vacuum in gear. In real word, it's often easier to set in neutral, then richen it about 1/8 turn and check it in gear.