I ran an angled plug head with manifolds for a single season and after the aggravation of frying plug boots paid to have a set of custom headers made. Can't remember the style of logs though - they weren't anything special.

Andy had successful stroker build utilizing ported alloy heads and HP manifolds: https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2441142/1.html

Depending on the goals of the build your friend might want to have a look.