Years ago, I helped a friend paint his '72 with House of Color Candy Red. He then built a 383 for it. A few days before the biggest drag race weekend of the year, we were "testing" on the country roads, when there was a BANG. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw engine parts bouncing in the road. We towed the car home and scrambled to pull the tunnel-rammed small block from my pro-street car. After a couple days of welding adapters of every sort, we were done except for the hood. We found a servicable small block hood, used the sawsall, and painted it flat black. We had a great weekend of racing, after which my daughter announced we were leaving the engine in for a few weeks so she could drive, too. She was quite the hot-rodder, but had never driven a stick. So we trailered the car to the industrial park where I worked and spent a few hours doing full passes down the streets. Eventually the police came and told us to stop. When we went to the next drag weekend, she was having so much fun she forgot to look at the tach. It was an engine you shifted at 8,800 RPM, and she over-revved it! I have it on video. The sound turned into just a screech as it went past 9,000 RPM. It only had one spun rod bearing. A little fixing, and it was good as new. That engine went into several cars over the years, and finally met it's end in a sand rail in Las Vegas.
Larry
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