Combination, combination, combination...

Did I mention it's all about the combination?

You know you currently have a mismatched combination. You can:
- do nothing but tune what you have the best you can (0 - $),
- or Band-Aid your areas of concern ($-$$),
- or sh!t-can everything you suspect doesn't work w/ the combination and start over from some point in the build ($$$-$$$$).

Let's say you get it dialed in well w/ the current combination and it's running consistent 10.4s. How much are you willing to pay for each additional tenth in ET reduction?

Let's say you spend $1000 - $1500 on it and it drops into the 10.3s. Are you willing to call it good enough?

Let's say you spend $3500 - $4500 and it runs 10.0s in normal conditions and has the potential to dip into the 9.9s under really good conditions. That's around $1000 per .1 in ET reduction. Are you "done"? And was it worth it?

I don't know your budget, your REALISTIC goals, your STRETCH goals, or what your current plan is. What I do know is you have taken ME and raised the neurotic level up a couple of notches.... well, maybe only one notch... well, maybe not any notches, but you've gone more public with it.

We've discussed your build in public; we've taken it offline to multiple PMs; and I'm not sure you're any clearer re the above than you were the first time you posted about the engine not meeting your expectations.

I REALLY want to see YOUR stuff run well. I REALLY want MY stuff to run well, too. At some point, there has to be a definitive "It Is What It Is" point, though.

For ME, a 10.0 ET is as fast as my car will ever be legal to run (STRETCH GOAL). And I have a definite capped budget which, to be embarrassingly & publically honest, I haven't managed well. << ANYBODY NOTICE THAT I HAVE 2 NICE CARBS AND SOME SWEET VALVE TRAIN PARTS FOR SALE? >> Based on all the paper data -- an no empirical data, unfortunately -- my REALISTIC goal is 10.2s, with possibility of dipping into the 10-teens on really good days.

I think it's time for YOU to lock down something in terms of budget, plan, expectations, etc. It doesn't have to be public knowledge, but it's gotta be something you can put down on paper and say to yourself: "Yeah, I can live with this."

BTW, the LAST thing I'd change w/ what you have now, unless it's really not mechanically sound, is your current short block. I think your 470 vs 512 philosophy is fundamentally flawed, but will leave it at that.

That's everything that I can offer.