Yeah, one time I had lost every thing in my DOA except 1st gear. and the motor would do 10 mph for every 1000 rpm on the tach. Had to go 30 miles to work when my hoopdee had broke down. So I had it pegged at 5000 to 5500 rpm for 30 miles on the highway. Engine ran a little hot but I made it to and from work no problem. Given that the stock tach can be off as much as 800 rpm even on the low side I was still turning at 4000 rpm. BTW this made me a believer in 5w30 Mobil 1 when I pulled my valve covers on the way to removing the engine. Clean as a whistle inside the engine. given the 302's short stroke. It can rev all day long. 3500 feet per second is suppossed to be a safe amount of acceleration for a stock 2 bolt main cast everything motor. So 7000 rpm for the stock bottom end is a practical limit, but the crappy stock valve train puts the skids to that. the light springs and heavy lifters plus the rev limiter keeps it sane at 6250 or lower. no wonder these things have a rep for being tuff.
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