Well, I tore the engine down this winter... Here is a short summery:

1. I was impressed, all the rods had weight numbers on them, and they were "ground" on the ends to make them balanced.

2. The crank had some VERY deep holes in it to "externally" balance the thing, so much that I would "think" they could have internally balanced the motor but I don't know...

3. My #2 intake and exhaust had a nick in them, at first I thought it was just on the seat, but after cleaning the valves I found it on the valves as well - this might have contributed to my issues.

4. THEY HAD THE WRONG RINGS IN THE MOTOR: it use KB 356 (http://www.kb-silvolite.com/test/kb_car/performance.php?action=details&P_id=23) which call for 5/64 rings, but they had 1/16 rings installed! they were loose in the bores

5. They grind down the shafts of the valves & install very thin brass bushings for valve guides, so they are "[Edited by Moparts - Family Friendly Site - Keep it clean]" size so you can not get valves, or replace the guides...

6. I replaced all the bearings, the cam bearings were flaking off before removing the cam. I found bearing chunks in the bottom of the oil pan. When the machine shop went to install the cam it would not fit on the last bearing and the cam had to have 0.001 taken off the end, it appears that they just jammed it in and scraped the cam bearings until it fit - leading to a lot of material scraped off.

7. The block was heavily notched (required when running stock rods) & appeared to use stock bolts.

I don't know what to think, the valve nick issue (which could have been due to something going through the motor), the cam issue and the rings being wrong has me worried about the motor...

Glad I went though it...