You really need to stop cranking this thing without it being oil primed properly and if it resists you stop.
You'll score another set of bearings. I would be looking at the crank again and try to check it for straightness.
Turn the shortblock caps up. Pull all but the end 2 main caps and indicate the center of the crank for runout.
If something is binding you need to find it. It has to be a clearance problem or a bent part. A bent rod could act this way.
Did this crank turn freely without the rods on it?
I wouldn't cranks it that much dry either;
All bearings have assembly lube on them, cylinder walls were wetted with oil before putting the heads back on and I primed it on top of all that.
None of the main caps had any un-even wear patterns on them and after I put the crank back in and torqued it it spun over very free.
The assembled short block rolled over smooth at 25-30 ftlbs piston to deck clearance measured in between 0.055-0.060 across all cylinders. Full assembled engine without plugs rolls over smoothly at 40 ft lbs, and with plugs in hits a max of 65ft lbs.
It dosent resist when plugs are out and does not jurk or have any "tight spots". The only veritable left in my mind (other than the starter being shit) is if the heads were shaved, I didn't have the proper stuff to measure the volume of the chambers. Then again seeing how it stalls out with only 60psi compression on one cylinder and the plugs out of the rest I think it's safe to say excessive compression is not the cause...
Again please remember, this was a running engine when it was pulled, the initial work was take it appart to a short block, loosen the caps by a quarter turn and re-torqued them, cleaned every thing, put in an upper end gasket set, re-assemble and pain. After I got it back in the car I discovered the issue, replaced the starter and still had an issue. That's when I pulled it again did a full tear down, clean up, rod bearing replacement re-assembly...
