OK, well first I want to warn you about not using any abrasive on those crankcase faces, even fine grit…Be very very careful, taking off any meat on either side will cause the crankshaft to bind. Next, I will go on to say that the crank seems to rotate freely even with the crankcase halves snugged up, so I would agree that the crank does not appear bent. Next, I want to ask you why those taper pins seem to be in place when you are rotating the crank without the halves assembled? Next, I wanted to ask about the videos of rotating with both pistons/rods connected, were the rings in place?? If so, it doesn’t appear that there is too much rolling friction. If there were no rings installed, then perhaps there was too much rolling resistance.
Next, I want to question the color of the paint on the powerhead. I saw a picture/video and the blue seemed too bright, but I can’t find that picture/video now. Perhaps this is just due to video/picture quality, who knows. Is this engine new to you? If so, did you every have it running? Was the powerhead stiff when you got it? Or, did it get stiff after you ran it? Again, forgive me if I forgot the details of some of your older videos/pictures, but were you rotating the powerhead with the gearcase connected? If so, perhaps it is the gearcase that is stiff, or perhaps the new impeller is stiff.
You mention something about the part numbers of the rods being visible, but that doesn’t mean the caps are connected to the proper rod, or oriented properly on the correct rod. While it surely is possible that a messed up rod bearing could certainly cause the engine to be hard to rotate, I just want you to be sure everything is OK before reassembling. Once the new rods arrive, you should assemble them to the crank (with caps properly oriented), and rotate them around the crank, there should be little or no resistance. But, I guess before you do that, you should look at each new rod, find the line up marks, and mark them carefully with a permanent marker to ensure the caps stay with the proper rods and the caps stay properly oriented on the rod. I know I keep pounding this point, but it is an easy mistake to make. And it is not too hard to mix up the rod caps, especially when unboxing and pulling them apart. So, I want you to mark each rod carefully before you pull it apart to ensure things don’t get mixed up. And yes, new rods will take care of any rod fit/cap orientation/cap mix up issues. But, I just want to be sure you thoroughly understand what I am referring to before you start to work with the new rods. Nonetheless, I want you to post a picture of at least one old rod with its matching cap assembled showing the line up marks I referred to (don’t assemble the rod to the crank).
At this point, I am not convinced of anything…Starting with whether or not this powerhead has been apart before. Perhaps you can take some more pictures the powerhead and midsection showing the paint. The only thing I feel confident in concluding is that the crank is OK/not bent, and its rolling resistance in the block seems normal.
Again, we are here to ensure you are successful with this project, so please don’t be put off by my continued questioning. I am not there, so can’t see everything you see.
