Posted by Matt Wilson [172.69.70.188] on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 at 00:48:14 :
In Reply to: Re: 230 C.I.D Redline posted by Andrew in MI [172.68.206.115] on Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 15:45:44 :
Sounds like that could have been George Asche. He's still alive and kicking at about 87 or 88 years of age. I've talked to him several times over the years. He's got stories of driving his 251 or 265 (I can't remember which) at 5500 rpm during races back in the 50's and later (he still does most or all of his driving behind the wheel of flathead-powered cars). He also talks about his uncle who took his up to 6000+ rpm during races and another fellow who took his 265 up to as much as 7200 rpm during turns. He says once you get up to around 6000 rpm, you have to make oiling system mods to keep the bearings in good shape, but otherwise the rods, rod bolts, crank, pistons and the like were all stock. Of course, there were power mods such as dual or triple carb intakes, high compression heads, different cam, and exhaust improvements to help the engine get up to those speeds. Other people who visit George and take a ride with him have said he doesn't spare the rpms even when just driving around town. Running synthetic oil, George says he got somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 miles out of his last engine before rebuilding it, so it seems all his hot rodding didn't hurt the longevity any.