RE: OHH-NOO - Not my old new stock Rossi !
The crankshaft that you descibed is the banded one. The area to each side of the crank pin is a high temp plastic of some sort. On the Rossi that I am currently running the stock bearings did not last long. I replaced them with a set from Boca that are made from chrome steel per Boca's reccomendations. They have been in the engine close to a year now. I'm not sure what exact engine you have, mine is what was called a 3+2 meaning it has 5 intake ports. If yours is the same, the engine has huge potential but is held back by the 8mm carb and low exhaust timing. I milled off .030 off the top of the exhaust port to increase the timing to around 170 degrees and then fitted it with a Picco 12mm carb. The Rossi 10mm carb would be better for pattern use. I am also using a Mac's pipe that has been modified to have a 7/8" inlet with my own 7/8" dia header that is 6" long. These few and simple mods gets me 13K with an APC11X11. It's installed in a 6.25 lb 515 sq in pylon airplane. Goes like hell.