My friend, Steve Yaklin, of Max Effort fame, recently bought a 2009 Challenger SRT8 that someone had poured a lot of money into for ported heads, big cam, programmer, etc. It ran really well, but it was not a 426 (was a 6.1) and it did not run like his Buicks.
He had always wanted a 426 in the old days and he decided he wanted one for this car. Only problem was that he needed more money so he finally put his Black GN up for sale to pay for all the stuff he would need to get a 426 and keep the drive train together.
The old timers will remember that he was famous for his development of alky systems on his white GN that made the magazines a few years ago. He had alky on the black car as well and it had gone tens but had not been driven much in the last few years.
The black car was girdled, had shim head gaskets for higher compression, stock cam, and a ME tw chip with 18 degs of timing. I think the turbo was an old 63E.
With much reluctance he put it up for sale and some guys from out of state bought it and hauled it off after a few lectures and instructions on taking it easy and learning how to drive it. They knew nothing about Buicks.
They, of course, went straight to the track and ran a 14.10. They called him and asked what to do...start leaning it down with the thumbwheel. Next run was in the 12's, the next was in the 11's. A couple of days ago, they went 10.58 after putting 28" tires on it.
All the above is on premium gasoline, homemade alky system, 18 degs of timing in a ME thumbwheel chip, stock cam, ported heads shifting at 5200 rpm with the car in 4th gear.
The TT SD chip is the successor to the ME. Not as easy to dial the fuel up and down as the ME but the other features are quicker to change and no tw required.
There is a lesson in there somewhere.
Some pay a ton of money for a bunch of parts and don't run as well. Nothing beats combination and understanding how to set the car up.
At any rate, here is a picture of his new Arrington 426 short block/engine which was installed this week. Wish I had one!
