I like Kcress' story telling. It applies as much to automatic trans cars at high RPMs. A friend with a T350 in his Camaro has the scatter blanket on it, and it's been there for nearly 30 years (probably time to replace - age and improved technology). The C6 in the Shelby had one when it was being raced. I keep telling my son that, for the hot rod shoebox, we need to put the shielding in.

Question I'd like to hear addressed is what the practical limits are for factory balanced (ha) engines from the sixties and early seventies. My 428 was given the full balance treatment, but it always ran out about 6000 anyway. The SBC engines seemed to turn a bit higher without stress.

I noticed the increased smoothness of the engine (small, but there) after all the balance/blueprint work, and wondered where the top for a factory engine would have been, if no other limiting factors other than sudden catastrophic failure (grenading) were in place. And what a stock (non-balanced) SBC would handle if you went nuts on cam, heads, carb, etc.

Any thoughts on that? I can buy a cam for the 428 for up to 7000 RPM, and all the matching parts, but I don't trust the rotating and reciprocating assemblies to hold that.

Thanks!