Jeez Ferm, you got skills with them engines I wish I had. If it had been me I would have been at the mercy of the idots you dealt with.
You will get it sorted out and when you do it will be sweet. Just keep that in mind.

Looks like i could bore this one out to 40 over and run WISECOS, but I may have a leed on another block. I can't believe what some people call a rebuild now days, this thing was a mess inside. 20 over pistons and 4 holes are 30 over, no wonder it rattled so bad in the water with backpressure on it. Hopefully I can get it sorted out soon, although I have somebody interested in my BRAVO 1 set-up. If I can sell it for my asking price i may find me a nice used OPTI, or take my flats boat and use it as a trade towards a new 4 stroke. Decisions decisions, but the price of gas sure is making them there new fangled outboards look good.

ferm if you plan on running wiseco's in a merc make sure who you get to bore the engine knows alot of those pistons because they have a tendency to need a slightly larger bore if not they swell and will seize up in the cyl. they are good pistons though but you need to bore them right.

JOHNNY-RUDE 200 looper. I have a line on a 2.7L block, and hope to get it and bore it to stock 3L specs.

my bad ferm, yeah OMC guys love the wiseco's they work well in those blocks too. those extra 300cc's should give you some more torque down low.

I have a 3L now, but the 2.7L is supposed to be better on fuel usage than the 3L's. The 2.7L block has a MASSIVE exhaust opening in them, said to be 30% larger than the 88-92 3L's and roughly 45% larger than the 93+ 3L finger port engines. My main concern is fuel efficiency though(if you could possibly consider a big 2 stroke efficient), not so much HP. Still kicking around the idea of a modern DFI engine though, also have found a 175 SUZUKI to the south of me for under $10K brand new. Scared to call and see what they want for rigging though.