Many have proven the good old Holley's to work well no doubt and I have worked a few like yourself but the Billet is just modern perfection in weight, consistency and looks. Not for everybody but drillin and tapping the old blocks is tedious and when you remove the well plugs and start gauging things, you'd see why Billet is better..........Billet wheels and components have taken over "stamping s" by a landslide and are truer by CNC design not castings w/core shift, flashing etc..........Needed for the average hot rodder, maybe not but like cams, cranks, rods etc, New tech has it's advantages and the only diss for some may be the price which really isn't that much more from a "custom" piece...............