Still couldn't get it to run past idle. I took it to a friend who's been in the hobby for over 30 years and within five minutes he had the engine running thru the full throttle range. The only problem was that it would randomly die...and sometimes backfire. After finding play in the prop shaft it was his diagnosis that the bearings are shot in this engine (I did get it used from someone on RCUniverse after all). He said he wouldn't trust a plane to that engine and that was all I needed to hear. Monday I'm calling my rep over at Global Hobby/HobbyPeople and ordering a new Magnum .52 four stroke. After shipping it will only be around $10 more to get the Magnum over an ASP from HobbyKing.
http://www.hobbypeople.net/index.php/magnum-xl-52-rfs-blue-r-c-4-stroke-engine.html
http://www.hobbypeople.net/index.php/magnum-xl-52-rfs-blue-r-c-4-stroke-engine.html