Here's my story, I'll try to keep it short. I replaced my 305 LG4 with a 350. The 350 had forged pistons, GM rods, AFR 190 heads, comp cams Xtreme 268 hydraulic cam, etc. Well stupid me torqued the valve covers too tight in a rush to get the engine running.
When the engine started, it ran great, until oil starting gushing out of the valve covers. I had to shut down the engine only 10 minutes into the cam break in. Well that 10 minutes wasn't enough. After many problems with the dist gear and valve adjustments I decided the engine need to be taken apart. After inspection, I found 5 lifters that had ground the cam flat. All that extra material went through the engine. It bound up my oil pump, and took out all the bearings in the block. Well no big deal, new set of bearings, throw in the other crank I had lying around and I'll be fine.

Well that was the plan. I noticed something weird when disassembling the engine. The rods do not pivot freely at the piston the way they did when I first put the engine together. Basically if you sit the piston head down on a table, the rod sticks straight up and doesn't fall. It takes a good amount of effort to rotate the rod. Also the top 2 inches of the rods are discolored from high heat. The pistons had press on pins. They were TRW forged. Are the pins supposed to get this tight, or did my camshaft grinding away have any affect on the pistons?

Thanks
Dave

 

sounds about right, the rods don't flop around like you'd think

 

but pressed in will have a little resistance.

 

I dont know what a 'good amount' of effort is, but it sounds like it might be too much. Really, you shouldnt be able to stand the rod up on the piston and have it stay there if everything is clean, it should fall to one side or the other by itself. The discoloration you saw might be normal, most places heat the rod end to install the pins and it discolors the top part of the rod. Unlikely that theres anything wrong with the rod. You might have one uninstalled since they are out of the engine and check for any scoring or wear inside the piston where the pin sits.