Hi Gazimoto:

I was wrong about the bushing sliding our of the rod. After disassembling the engine, the rod that was not being flush with the end of the crankpin. Instead, the rod is more narrow at the big end than the crankpin is long. This means that crankpin protrudes about .0625" out of the rear of the rod. The rod looks like it was from a damaged engine. There are many deep gouges and places on the outside of the big end that look like they banged on the insides of the crankcase. Perhaps this rod came from a different engine like ST. I have never seen an engine where the crank pin was too long for width of the eye of the rod. Perhaps I should start looking for MVVS rod! I am beginning to think that I was sold an engine that was not new but had been made up of spare and in one case, damaged parts. There was no box, instructions etc. like one would get with new engine.

I filed the sides of the rod a bit to make sure that it does not hit the crank disk. There was a cut on the side of the rod made by crank disk like it had been milled. This may have been what was driving the rod into the back plate. I will check this fit in the morning.

Thanks for taking the time to consider my dilemma

Cheers,

Leomat.