rebuilding the slant6

That's probably why you threw the rod! :-) I agree that the /6 can take some abuse and has lots of room for perfomance improvements but why go to all that trouble and expense for a grocery getter? The reason they would go a quarter million miles without major problems was that they didn't have enough power to break anything.

No kiddin. It's sorta a known mechanical fact that when you increase output, you decrease longevity. Evidently not known to everybody. :toothy10: