We had the opposite experience that others seem to had. Our 1850 w/ Perkins threw a rod through the side of the block. Replaced it with a 1955 and had no problems with it. Dad was never a 1850 fan after that.

 I can remember being at the dealership and they got in a new Perkins engine in a crate that was marked, &quot;Made In England&quot; or something to that effect and I thought that was so neat that that crate came all the way from across the ocean. 

 Funny how you remember stuff like that from your childhood.