The neoprene seal used in the 2nd series 235s wont cause a significant drag. Its the rope seal on early 235s and other engine families that can cause the rotating assy (crank rods pistons) to "feel" tight.
After burning up about 2 235 cranks, I got the "feel" for the permissible amount of drag when checking a rotating assy. On my 235 that is now running well (besides oil consumption due to guide clearance problems) I was able to spin the rotating assy by grabbing the balancer with both hands and turning. The only real resistance was when the pistons were 1/2" way up or down in their travel and ring travel per degrees of rotation was at its max. The bare installed crank would turn easily just with a few fingers on a counterweight. Its my educated opinion that the only serious friction in a 235 rotating assy is ring drag on the cylinder walls.
I used the red Clevite 77 bearing assy lube on all bearing and lobe surfaces. Its available from NAPA as a "bearing installation kit" that came with assy lube, rod bolt protectors and plastigauge.
9 times out of 10 when a 235 rotating assy wants to "bind up" its going to be a main bearing. Back off the mains one at a time and see if the assy suddenly frees up. Look at the #2 or #3 mains first. The caps are marked F and R and must be installed the correct direction.
Other bind-up causes are improper size bearing shells, or piston rings that don't have enough end-gap.
Was the crank hard to turn before you installed the piston/rod assys?
chip
