Hoyt, You touched on an interesting subject, one I asked myself while trying to figure this whole episode out: the torsional force you put on the rod while tightening the pin clamp bolt. I'm with you on this, I definitely think you should run something through the pin and hold it while torqueing the bolt.
The temperature variation you all brought up would not apply in this case as everything in my shop has been a pretty constant temp during the whole assembly period and for start up, probably around 60F.
Thanks guys for all the valuable input. I really appreciate this website cause most of the guys are just here to offer some down to earth help and not out to prove a point. Keep up the good work. I never thought I'd see the day I enjoyed working on old six-bangers but it has been fun. All my friends think I've gone off the deep end for not building the VEE things like 99% of the rest of the world does. To each his own! Sorry for the long post.
Randy
