Look at the specifications for HP and torque on these engines. The HP figures max out at somewhere above 3500 in every example I can find, and the torque maxes out around 2K in most cases. If the vehicle is geared properly, you should be able to get up to, or slightly above the HP peak in the lower gears, and make a shift that drops the RPM to just below the torque peak. Running max HP RPM in high gear is virtually never done by anybody who drives a stovebolt these days- - - - -the sound of the wound-up engine scares them to death! If it was dangerous to the engine, why did the designers wind it up there to get the rated HP?
My Chilton service manual shows a 1956 235 (first year for the 848 head) at 140 HP at 4200 RPM, with max torque of 210 ft/lbs at 2400. Nobody I know runs their stovebolt engine anywhere near 4K RPM!
Jerry
