I have been doing some more research and it is a hot topic no matter what brand you build. Over on enginebuildersmag.com there is a good article on rods. Basically they talk about how when the steel is recovered scrap, it is hard to control the quality consistantly(China's #1 problem). Interesting info on prices, according to them, rods coming out of China and India can be bought in large quantities for as little as $10 each, they also quote a large unnamed factory rep who says that most of the cheap rods you see on ebay are counterfeit and that you don't know what you are getting. The gist that I have picked up from reading and talking to several knowlegable builders is that the steel quality in the offshore 5140 I-beams is much more suspect than the NAME offshore 4340 H-beams. I started out just looking for a decent replacement rod for a 450-500 hp, sometime in the future, build. What I learned was enough to convince me that, as in most cases, the odds are more in your favor by spending a bit more. YMMV.