You didn't say how many miles your engine has done Dutch. Some US cars have big mileages on them. It's a bit sad that the best place to get a replacement "All American" S&S X-Wedge engine is now in the UK. At least you have a good exchange rate at the moment. Tariffs???
There must be an element of luck (and build tolerances?) involved with these engines. Not wishing to jinx things but my engine has done just over 46,000 fairly reliable miles, burns little or no oil, has good compression, doesn't wet sump much when left and generally runs reasonably well. It has had regular oil changes with good quality oil, had the urban cooling kit fitted early in its life and rarely gets the chance to drive in very high ambient temperatures. High temperatures in engines is never a good thing. The urban cooling kit is not elegant but does help keep engine temperatures under control.
