BotP,
as hard as these rods are to find I would vote for "M" standing for Mother. but it's Massey as in Massey/Ferguson.
I have in my possession two "old" TRW parts interchange books that I regard as priceless. they list rods, bearings, pistons, valves, retainers, rings, sleeves, and more by size, part number, or some systematic identifier. hardly anyone ever used them because you're reengineering the motor when you go that deep to find parts.
(I'm helping build an Edsel drag car that started out with a 410 MEL motor. when it gets to the strip it will be a 467 MEL motor courtesy of the 440 Mopar rods, offset ground crank, and custom Arias pistons. 4.400" x 4.000", thanks TRW)
back in the 80's I was building Chevy II 4 bangers and came across a Pontiac OHC 6 rod. it is still the best factory HP rod I've ever seen. but, try to find a set. the last six I got out of a boneyard Tempest in Shreveport, LA. the early demand for them was for SBC's; all you did was narrow the big end and go racing. they were the next best thing to Carillo's. but the high demand and the brutal use drove the price almost to Carillo's.
as far as the loss of information is concerned, I am too dumb to understand how the proliferation of demand for something does anyone any good when it's not even known if the item meets the requirements. rather than find the solution to a problem in a junkyard, which requires work, patience and understanding, too many modern Hot Rodders just turn to a vendor and order the latest "billet, bolt on" replacement.
like the man says, "Speed (custom) costs, how fast (trick) do you want to go (look)". banning competition would go a long way towards minimizing the influence of greedy, "stingy old Hot Rodders". penitently, kalklein
