[Excaliber]

I don't see it as a "crutch", I see the potential problem as the various parts not working well together. Same thing, I guess. The point is, a good cam or good heads with a lousy intake or lousy exhaust defeats the end result.

Some combinations work better than others. It takes a lot of experience to figure out what those "magic" components are that work well together. When I built my engine I leaned heavily on Gessford Machine to identify what would work well for my application. Gear ratio's, expected use, etc. Talking to a single supplier (like a cam supplier or Jegs tech department) is not going to reap the same benefits of a serious engine builder.

Gotta look at the big picture, identify the bottle necks, the limitations, the cost, it's a tall order.