Back in the 1960s, "High Text" gasoline was 104 octane. Didn't need avgas at 13:1. "Sunoco Blue".
Johnny Rutherford was driving as a rookie in the 1963 Daytona; car "owner" was Smokey Yunick.
The crankshafts on top Fuel dragsters (and I guess Force's funny car) have the crankshafts built with several degrees of twist. They straighten out under the load.
The engine installation in the Healey was fairly simple, really. I used Jaguar "doughnuts" on top of the Healey towers. A slight modification to the standard Chevy side mounts let it sit right down. I cut a Chevy rear tranny mount to fit the "X" in the Healey frame and welded it in. No biggie.
I put a much stiffer sway bar in the front, and added one leaf to each rear spring. I built a simple set of traction masters for the rear. I welded up the spiders in the differential to get rid of wheelspin. I took off the knock-off hubs and used Pontiac rims.
Without the swaybar, and on good-traction pavement, I could nail first gear and lift the left front wheel about six inches off the pavement.
Ran the 1/3 in the middle to high twelves; around 115 to 118 mph.
Great commuter car.
After I rolled it at our local hill climb, I got a '67 plain vanilla Camaro and put a 427 in it. Made a great tow car for my Formula Vee.
The big chuckle in the pits a few years later was when I showed up with a Forumla A car, towed behind a VW Bus.
Always keep'em guessing.
Art