I need schooling - old vs. new engines

Rat Bastid said

Not to offend you, but 22 years ago I made 540 HP on 408 inches with a way too small hydraulic roller and Edelbrock heads.

I could duplicate that today, add another 40 HP easy and do it for less than 15k.

And it would idle smooth and drive so easy a school girl could jump in it and be comfortable.

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On the contrary, not offended at all. I wish I could duplicate that setup!

I had my engine professionally built using what I thought was some pretty decent hardware. (Diamond 11.1 pistons, Scorpion Racing Products valvetrain, fully worked edlebrock aluminum heads, Air gap intake , Comp Cams extreme energy (don't have specs in front of me at the moment) 770 Street Avenger carb, fully balanced rotating assembly, TTI headers (Using shorties so may have lost some hp there.) Heavy duty cooling system. Brewers Built 4-speed and 3:55-1 489 case suregrip (by DR Diff). I get approx 517 to the crank, pretty lumpy idle and about 12mpg. Approx 5000 miles on the engine since I put this setup together.
I am generally pleased with the setup after much playing with Carb settings/timing and the car runs very well. The one thing I would like to play with is A/F ratios but I'm not currently set up to do that yet.
I don't think a schoolgirl or anyone else would call the idle smooth!!