Its not 1980 any more.... set your rods and mains at .003, deep pan and good oil, optimized cooling system and hammer down. The most friendly gear I drive is a 4:30 the better is 4:56 and its happy in the 5-8k area. Nothing better then running 65mph and someone thinks your spent till you pull it down one and then they know the real truth.

I think back in the day the mostly stock bottom enders would of benefited from a bit more bearing clearance and better rod bolts.

Some have got complacent just cruising and cant/wont even run off a stop light which for some isnt a bad thing considering stock or just above stock cant muster a win over some modern V6s.

In the 80-90-s old iron still ruled over anything new.... no longer true.