I have one and the metal sure does not look any different than any of my other engines. Pe - when you say you are not sure the matallurgy is up to the task of diesel conversion - do you have first hand knowledge or just guessing? To the best of my knowledge MDS is based in the Ukraine and is sort of a reincarnation of a well known former soviet engine maker. They sure have the know how given the soviets track record in sciense and engineering?
Just my 2c.
Joshua