[Hydroglen]

Well I was not comparing engines of comparable size ( Bristol at 2 lit and
Bentley and Hudson at over 4 lit are quite different ) but of the same
number of cylinders. This would keep the number of parts somewhat close.
I agree that once you get in to a V 12 or 4 cam V 8 things get pretty wild.
And yes, having parts made, is cheaper than using original proprietary ones
were prices become very "creative". The irony is, that often enough, the so
called "original" parts were made fairly recently by the same manufacturers
who makes them for others including myself.
The difference is in the price off the shelf.
Your comments on shims ( I take it you mean the cam shims under the buckets)
and considerable savings, are a good example of how money can be saved or
wasted. Lucky you had an Italian car specialist working on your Aston lol.
Cheers,
Dorien