What were the issues with the pistons and rods. For some reason I was thinking the pistons were the same as a 454 mag engine (forged) Not certain what rods they used however if rods are a weak point then there’s got to be other “trouble makers” going on. Takes a lot to break a rod!

I presume it's for how much HP it makes?

Nope, 10:1 with Aluminum heads. Both Ray and Dustin told me depending on how much advance and aggressive the tune was it could go either way.

You can read all this on Raylar's website. The stock pistons are a weak point, and usually fail at the thin ring lands which are very close to the top of the piston. They offer their 540 HP kit using the stock pistons and rods. Their 600HP kit comes with forged piston upgrade with deeper valve reliefs as well as forged I beam connecting rods. They have supercharged version well north of 700 HP as well as 540 cubic inch stroker kits using an upgraded block.

Appreciate the comments. Well, the on topic comments anyway

I disagree with market comment. I've seen a lot of decent boats for sale not move and starting to see lots of price drops. The market for these single purpose go-fast boats isn't what it was in 2020 or 2021.

Im not in the market but I saw a Formula 35 w outboards, believe it was 2 years old in Boca on Facepoop. It was listed for $499,000. No offence to Formula owners but I can think of a lotta other boats for $499. Of course this was for sale and not sold but the Florida boat market is nutty.

The pistons are hypereutectic, not forged. There's an urban myth that the HO motors had forged pistons, that is not true. The rods are "powdered metal", with an odd size 1.062" piston pin. Many convert to the standard BBC .990" piston pin sized aftermarket 6.7" forged rods and Wiseco makes pistons that fit the .990" size pin for the 496s. They have also made a larger valve relief and moved the top ring down for strength.

A select few of the first year 496HO engines had a forged Kellog crankshaft, after that everything was cast. Generally speaking most consider the stock cast crank to be good up to around 750HP.

Valve springs are the biggest weakness on the heads, they have about 90lbs seat pressure.