Fun doesn't do it justice. I've had an ear to ear smile for weeks. This thing was a total junkyard dog. We really made it flat out haul and look good too. It was christened "Full Throttle". We are now changing it to "In Too Deep". I'm figuring everything on the bottom is smoked. It is a 2 bolt. I don't think it's been bored but without measuring who knows. I'm pulling the engine Friday. When I pull the pan off will it be pretty obvious? What should I look for? Rough surfaces? gouges? Will the bearings just be falling apart? I've never messed with the bottom end before. I guess that is why we took the shortcut in the first place. Will I be able to tell anything without taking it to the machine shop? The mechanic at the service station down the street has a clean 305 ready to drop in. The crank is polished and balanced. It's dynoed at 330hp. It only has a few thousand miles on it since he built it. He went with a bigger engine in his firechicken. I'm trying to get it for a grand. Then I can worry about the 350 in the winter. Oh and that 5500 was in the ocean. No flat water to be seen. I suspect it was a combination of the weak bottom end and the aggressive pitched prop which got that boat completely out of the water. When the prop had no load, I wonder what it momentarily spun up to. The torque applied when it caught again can't be good either. Maybe a rev limiter in Version 2? I've been thinking about getting the pickup welded so it doesn't move around along with a deep sump.