Don - turned the engine over by hand with the head off and it was the same. am pretty sure it was #3 and #5 cylinders that were on the upstroke when it got hard to turn. still hoping getting it running and a little hot will help loosen everything up a bit. last thing i did was pull the plugs and pour some penetrating fluid down the jugs. hopefully it helps.
I had the same issue, i poured diesel fuel into all cylinders through the spark plug hole's, cranked by hand a couple of times then let it sit for half a week, topped off the cylinders again and at the end of the week, i drained the oil. topped everything off and hooked up a new battery and she spun like brand new
