Kevin installed his with the long end towards the exhaust side. I installed mine with the long end towards the intake side, as the manual said. My engine's been running for a week without any problems. Who knows?!

 

I posted a link to your thread on another large site and asked if anyone pulls a pan for any reason, to look and see how there rods are installed.

Dave

 

started and ran mine today. Works just dandy. I couldnt bring myself to put the rods in so that the thrust of the down stroke works across the bolts instead of against the cap directly. Im guessing they did that because the cracked rod is supposed to take better side thrust.
jfdid, did you find that the oil holes in your main bearing were about a quarter hole out from the hole it supposed to line up with in the block? both the bearings that came out and the ones that went in were off.