I'm in my 80's and had a friend that hauled steel out of Pennsylvania to Texas with a 46 Chevy tractor trailer rig. It had the Babbitt bearings 235 which is the same system as the 216. He was an absolute stickler for maintenance and said he once got 70k miles before overhauling. Most I had experience with needed attention by 55-60k. These engines had huge (by today's standard) tolerances, heavy pistons, cast iron rings, limited upper end lubrication. very soft bearings---all the things one would put in an engine that today was designed for a limited and short life. That said; these trucks, hand cranked tractors, hand saws, pencils and papers, and all else of that era won the big war for us and built our homes and highways. They were great for then but one can't compare them to the 250-300K Crown Vics the police used for years---apples to oranges.
