Guys following the forum closely know Karl suffered a crankshaft failure as the result of faulty flywheel. He is currently rebuilding the engine with a replacement crank assembly and has run into a bit of a problem. For the benefit of those who will be rebuilding at some point here's a description of the problem as relayed to me in an e-mail from Karl. (hope you don't mind the repost of your e-mail Karl)
"Hi Shannon,
I have a little puzzle. After rebuilding and re-assembling my motor that
had the broken crank, the new crank seems a little stiff to turn. It is
smooth in rotation, with no binding, but takes a pound or so at the end
of a 6" wrench to turn. If I slack off the crankcase bolts, it then
frees up so I can turn it by finger. I measured all the thicknesses, and
it should have given me about .010" of free play end to end. If my
measurements were off, I guess I need to remove a shim. Or is it normal
to be stiff until it is run in a little?
Karl"
The clues that Karl has provided indicates the crankshaft bearings are probably over-shimmed. If during reassembly you find the crank hard to turn STOP right there and go no further. The article provided here at LazairForce(http://lazairforce.central5.com/) "fun with shims" should assist with finding proper end-play in the crankshaft assembly.
As I've experienced myself an improperly shimmed engine will run at idle and mid-range yet be incapable of developing full power. This is due to "squeezing" together of the crankshaft asssembly and engine case halves as heat builds.
Shannon