Worth Buying?

[HighTechRedneck]

My brother has a 03 Honda Rancher S 350 4x4. Mom bought it for my brother for a Christmas present last fall. It has 25" worn down mudlite and was bored out .010. Wasn't sure why,but my guess is they sunk it. So it was working fine that winter and then my brother came back this summer and was riding it around. He called me and said his Rancher was smoking. So they took it to some atv repair shop and they tore it down. Needed top end work, brakes, and a few other small things. Well she paid the diag fee and now it's in parts sitting in the garage. My brother wants to try and sell it or part it out. I asked if he'd sell it to me for $300 and he said yes. So my question is...do ya'll think its worth building back up or should I just save the money for other projects? If I did i'd send the motor to flynt over on HL and have him do a 375cc big bore kit, disc brakes, and a ton of other stuff. I'm just not sure if it'd be worth it or not. Any suggestions, comments, ideas?? I took some pictures of it, but being i'm on dial up connection i'm not sure how long it'd take to post some pictures of it up. So I may try posting pictures of it as it sits now next time I get online.

[hampster_rancher]

I had an 06 350, it was a great machine. With a lift and some tires, they work pretty good but you will never get more than about 10 inches of ground clearance no matter what you do.
Do a disk brake conversion and a DGL in the front and it will work fine.

[littlegrasshopper]

I had one once, same year model I think. Sunk mine as well and it started the dreaded smoking thing. Spent alot of coin getting her back running good. Several new pistons and rings even a couple of sleaves before I found out it was a bent crank all along. I was told they do that alot when water is injested by the guy that determined it was a bent crank. The dealer had done most of the work and finally told me if the last fix didn't get it NOT TO BRING IT BACK!
First trip to another guy and he told be the crank was probably bent causing the piston to oblong the cylinder. After the last fix it ran fine but I got rid of it after 5 months. Good machine with a peppy motor but even with a clutch kit, jet, filter, and pipe it struggled with big tires. Good bike for a small guy or a kid. Maybe the crank is fine but if it starts smoking again in a week or so replace the crank.

[HighTechRedneck]

Do you think it's worth spending a few grand on to get it back and running again or should he just part it out and be done with it?