Banger RPM's

A question for you "banger " experts out there,
What can I rev my rebuilt "B" engine to safely and what would be the best cruising RPM's to use as I dont want to screw it all up after all the hard work and money that has gone into the rebuild.
Spec is:
1933 'B' engine,Babbit bearings (not drilled for pressure) counter balanced crank,40 thou overbore,Lion head,Winfield IR grind cam (F.A.S.T),Stainless valves,Lightened flywheel,V8 clutch,Scalded Dog manifold,New Stromberg carb & close ratio gears.
Any ideas where I could get a rev counter that only reads to 4000rpm?
Thanks
Nick.

 

For what you describe, 3500 is probably a realistic red line.

 

just a thought, but an old diesel tachometer might be your best bet if you don't want to pass 4k.

 

Can o' worms, this one. There's plenty of opinion about what you can rev to with babbitt/inserts, though what you rev to isn't all about the bearings, the lightened flywheel and counterweights will help prevent your bearings getting pounded too much at higher revs.
Personally, I reckon the 3500 figure is a good one, though I wouldn't want to stay there for too long, just in case.
Dunno about the rev counter but there's bound to be one available somewhere.

 

Sun made tachs for just about every application, get the right (4 cyl) control box and a 4k tach and it should look/work fantastically (i have a 4k sun tach, clean but with cracked glass so i know for a fact they exist)

 

If the crank is not drilled, and you are dipping you can wind it to 3500 and do fine. But DON'T and I repeat DON'T run it down the road at 3500. It will not hold up and you will have wasted your money. I speek from experience.--TV

 

1800 to 2000 max for all day long down the road cruising. I wind my similar motor to a little over 3 (but never to 3500) when I race it. VDO makes a nice little 4000 rpm tach that is self contained. I attached it to my steering column with there "roll bar" mounting clamp.

 

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

I just found your thread, so maybe it's too stale to get to you; but I'll add my two cents anyway. All of the prior advise is cogent. I run a '32 "Big Car" with a '33 Ford B. However, mine's topped with OHV, milled to give me a comp ratio of 12 to 1. That, of course requires, not only full pressure; but, a five main bearing crank conversion. I can rev up to 5000 r.p.m.(higher in a pinch). This, though, is not my point. A wise automotive engineer, Dema Elgin, Elgin Engineering of Redwood City, California told me that, if one is to rev the Ford A's or B's over 2500-3000 r.p.m., with three mains, sooner or later, it's going to break a crank. The remedy, he said, was to put a harmonic damper on the nose of the crank. On my first engine, I was too late. I broke the crank. Even with the 5 main crank on the new engine, I put a harmonic damper.
Dawg