Comments were not directed at guys that WANT to use older parts or build that style motor. They were directed at guys who HAVE opted to buy much better parts, yet are not getting the performance from them they should be.
If you HAVE a set of ported 906s or Stage5 heads lying around, by all means use them. But me, I sold all that old stuff off. So these days, spending the money to "trick out" a set of older cast iron heads makes no sense monetarily. Better alum heads can be bought for less money than you will tie up in those cast iron heads if starting from scratch.
So lets look at some other parts. So you have plenty of sets of LY rods lying around. At minimum, they will need to be resized and new bolts installed. Depending on what you get that done for, you are likely going to be money wise very close to a BETTER set of aftermarket rods. So which do you trust your new build to, recon 40 year old rods, or new ones for virtually same money. And if you are buying rods, a little longer costs no more. On pistons, I haven't bought a set of forged TRWs in 20 years, so I have no idea what they cost now, but man those things are heavy. Many companies have a much nicer shelf piston these days that won't break the bank.
On other stuff, a cam costs what it costs, lifters and other parts. So no need not to go modern unless you are raiding somebody's old parts pile for cheap. But myself I have seen those "old" parts need enough work, that you could have bought new. Example, a local guy had a nice .030 over block ready to go. Found the proverbial "smoking" deal on some .060 over used pistons. By the time he bored and honed block, bought an odd ball ring package for the "good deal" pistons, it cost him money over just buying .030 pistons and being done.
The bottom line is you need a "plan" and stick to it. Just buying parts willy nilly because they are a "deal" always ends up costing you in the end, because seldom do the "deal" parts work out like you need them to. Also remember that old heads, intakes, etc, may have been cut within an inch of their lives and chances of that stuff bolting together without more machining, spacers or whatever, is slim. Nothing wrong with a budget build, but with used parts, it NEVER works out as cheap as you have it figured in your head
Understood. I've seen exactly what your saying happen to many and even had it happen to me when I built the motor in my Road Runner. Got a cheaper set of reconditioned, big valve, pocket ported heads from a reputable Mopar shop only to find out they weren't right. I had a few hundred more dollars in them over the original cost to make them work and they're still not 100% right. I would have been money and power ahead if I'd just bought a new, better set of aluminum heads.
