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Originally Posted by JekylandHyde
What did he do to prepare a 350 for 7500 rpms?
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Well, it doesn't take nearly as much as you might think. In fact, we ran a 406 for two years on a stock cast iron crank (that had been turned .020) and stock 5.4 inch rods, chipping it at 7000 rpms.
Now of course we didnt know at the time it was on stock internals (minus pistons, they were 12.5:1), but nevertheless, that was one stout running engine, and it held together. We just took it to an engine shop to get it overhauled (new rings, bearings, check rods, crank,and pistons), and the owner informed us of what we had, lol. That engine was supposed to be steel crank and rods, and it was bought complete, so we didnt know it didn't have this stuff, lol.
Anyways, a 350 can stand more then a 400 (rpm wise), so it could be possible to turn one at 7500 rpms on stock internals and common to do so with a built engine, but it wouldn't be something I would feel comfortable doing, espeically if it has a good set of heads (which it must to run 11s, unless of course its in a very light weight vehicle).
We have a friend who did race, and he also had a 406 (built), and he chipped his at 8000 rpms. Now he did have some really good luck; he ran the same engine for something like 2 seasons without changing the oil, lol. The ironic thing is, when he did change it, we went to a 1/8th mile track in Clay City, KY, and he blew it up that weekend attempting to run a 1/4 mile pass. He held it the entire 1/4 but blew it up, and the bad thing is, he never got a 1/4 time becuase the track officials didn't have the timing equipment set for the 1/4 (bracket cars don't run the 1/4 at this track, only trophy).
He don't race anymore (sold his car this season I think), but he raced all of last year, and a couple races this season (mostly at 1/8th tracks) and he ran a 406 and chipped it at 8000 rpms, and in the water box, it stayed on 8000 rpms. Now this engine was far from stock, but my point is, its not that hard to get a SBC to turn high rpms. My uncle has a 302 SBC in his race car, and we chip it at 7400 rpms, and in the water box, it too stays on the 7400 rpm chip, and of course the one I drive with the 406 (now with steel crank and rods) gets chipped at 7000 rpms.