most of the busted stuff we get sent to fix up is due to poor assembly practices. Component failure is quite rare if they are prepared and assembled correctly. It appears to us that new parts are being fitted to an engine block thats been ill prepared without so much as discarding the packaging. Quite often the root cause of these failures is still buried somewhere in the build and has not been assesed and rectified
some food for thought...we have built several "insert big jap brand" RB stroker engines that we insist be correctly prepared before use. The certain brand im refering to costs about $1500+ to get it to a standard where im totally satisfied that its the best we can offer.
this is the reason up to certain power levels i recommend using STD 26 conrods. Yes they need a few bucks on them to get them serviceable but this cost is about 1/2 of the cheap chinese stuff which we have found need the same treatment anyway. An $800 set of rods can cost double that after you fit decent small end bushes, resize the big ends and get them balanced.
unfortunately these components often get the blame for failure when things go south, when in reality if the builder has enough experience with these engines, good product knowledge and correctly prepares/assembles the parts they often survive quite happily when using the cheaper brands. A well assembled engine using cheaper parts will always outlast a poorly assembled engine using mega buck parts.