well, went ahead and pulled the rear cover off of another(older) JAMMIN .28 that i had laying around(was never apart). found the con rod to be in the "proper" orientation with the con rod oil hole facing the front of the engine(??). strange that there is no apparent wear on either the crank pin or the rod bushing(checked both with a caliper). not out-of-round. either way, considering that i bought the engine from nitrohouse, guessi have to call them back to "re-discuss"..........