Nothing wrong with a 4.375" crank in a short deck. 4.5" is a bit much for a short deck boat motor. It's hard on the Pistons. If you don't mind putting Pistons in the motor every year or every other year got for it. A 598 short deck will make more power than a tall deck.

They are also built on a 10.20 block

1100&1350 don,t use either std or tall deck.they are not based on 50 year old block design.

why will a short deck 598 make more power than a tall deck 598?

most guys complain about changing valve springs&lifters at 300 hrs so i think changing pistons every other year won,t work for a marine application,jmo.

The shorter the deck the better the path from the Carb to the intake valve. This is why Dart makes 9.6 race blocks.

Some good info guys. Tks! The application would be for NA engines that would only see apprx every other weekend for roughly 3 months out of the year type boating. Mostly pleasure boating with an occasional Busch light taking the helm with the pins down bouncing off the rev limiters. Ha..

Even with engines pulled every other season for routine maintenance/inspection I do believe I will use better judgement and begin gathering parts etc with having 565's in mind rather than 598's.

more power,maybe a few horse power like in pro stock but no good for longivity.i once viewed a short deck 598 with the pan off,even with a very short skirted piston the oil rings almost left the bore at bdc and the ring pack was stacked,the owner found out the hard way that it was a mistake.he ended up bying pistons,rods,push rods and a tall deck block so he could go racing.he ran the tall deck engine all season without an issue.just saying.

There are guys that sell 598 short decks with a warranty now. In the beginning there was no warranty as the development progressed builders started offering a warranty.

how long is the warranty period?not that i would ever want one.