Tell your buddy he should at a minimum be using Molnar crank and rods in his $6k block. Only a couple hundred bucks more, nicer stuff and better resale
I bought an all new 540 shortblock (built for truck pulling) with lots of good parts including a Mega Block and Callies crank..but for some reason they opted for Eagle rods Still deciding on which rods to put in, and who will do it.
