Whether its 216 or a 235 or a 261, they are all designed to handle as much RPH under load as you can give them. Just think about what they would have to do to a big grain truck fully loaded to get from a far away field back to the farm. Lots of gear shifts requiring extreme RPM before every shift to avoid excessive lugging in the next higher gear.
We baby these engines too much. If you don't wind them up like they were designed to do, you end up with carbon deposits in the combustion chambers. All that noise they make should be considered music to the ears, all be it loud music.
If you blow it up, why, its best years were already behind it, or it wasn't rebuilt correctly to begin with.
Carl
