[iceminion]

its freaken strange....the brass flakes are GONE. I will know more after i get a couple miles on the car and drain/inspect the oil.

i have a couple of theories:

1.Copper-coat spray and dirty oil pan/oil cooler were contaminated with flakes and in my haste to get this bitch together I did not clean adequately before assembly.

2. Engine bearings were/are damaged due to shit/rocks/sand getting pumped through the engine on initial startup. Now the shit is gone, filtered out, but the damage to the bearings is either:
a. Not bad - the engine will run great forever
b. Bad - the engine will spin a bearing after several miles of driving

3. The bearings are bad, and they will grind themselves to death after several miles.

again, i will know more over the next couple days