read more, even if excerpt not trimmed

Try a simple string replacement. The following is untested:

    function fabs_excerpt_more($output) {
     global $post;
$output = str_replace('</p>', '<a class="more" href="'. get_permalink($post->ID) . '">></a></p>', $output);
     return $output;
    }
    add_filter( 'excerpt_more', 'fabs_excerpt_more' );