Well, got the boat on the lake and the motor still runs like crap.
After much cursing and a beer or two in, I was checking the connections on the problem stbd cylinders and wouldn't ya know one of the wires leading from the stator to the powerpack connector was corroded and grounding to the block through the broken insulation. Some electrical tape and moved the connector away from the block - 100% fixed. It's always the simple things....
I didn't expect much out of this motor after hearing guys on here with much bigger motors but she runs great. We made 39 mph on GPS @ 5400 rpm WOT. Seemed to cruise real happy at around 4100. RPM is a little low I think, but the motor is sitting 1 hole too low on the transom so I hope raising it to proper height will bring a few more rpms outta her. The motor ran great all four days...seemed a bit cold blooded but it was fairly cold out and idled great once warmed up.
Water was too cold for any watersports, but fished, cruised around - took a look at North Anna Generating station (parking lots were packed, they must be in an outage).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bn2Ujzahs8