Hudson,
Are you sure the sleeved engines aren't just for ag/industrial use? I've never seen a car or truck engine with them. I don't think the block would be too soft to run without, although the sleeve material is probably harder than the iron in the block. Speaking of being too soft, I don't think anything could be softer than a 400 SB Chevy. On the stroking issue, I was looking the other day and found another interesting possibility. The little pre '42 Plymouth of 201 cid has rod journals that are 1.937 with the same length rod as the 217. You could offset grind the crank .187 on the big motors or .125 on the small ones providing the rods are the same width as the rest. Might be a little too far to go on big 2.125 journal motors though. Piston speed is just sort of a non issue these days. For example: an NHRA Pro Stock motor has a stroke in the range of 3.75 to 3.82 ( we built one with the 3.82 stroke ) turn 10,000 rpm plus. That figures out to 6366 @ 10000 rpm. Stock eliminator racers run cast pistons a lot because they are lighter. They do not turn a lot of rpm because the valvetrain is the limiting factor for NHRA Stock class ( have to run stock valve springs so they generally valve float in the 5500/6000 rpm range with the crazy cheater cams they use ). The strength of a cast piston is actually pretty strong considering what it is subjected to. Think of it this way, our old flatheads really don't make enough power to hurt themselves. That's why so many oldies are considered to be so sturdy. Think hp per cylinder and compare to anything else with ohv heads. Ohv engines in the 300 hp + range have cast pistons and are actually subjected to more stress over the long haul. Weight wise the 3.25 bore pistons are probably pretty light, of course there's always room for improvement.
Regards,
Del
[This message has been edited by DEL (edited 10-22-2001).]
