New bearings, difficult to rotate the crankshaft.

I like to put in crank, rods, and pistons with NO piston rings and see how it turns. This is after I check the crank for run out and check all the bearing clearances with dial bore guage and caliper. Plasti guage is better then nothing but you can't check for out of round and you can't check for how consistent the clearance is at the various locations on the bearings and crank. If you are assembling engines your self you really need to get the right tools and check those clearances correctly. Will save you a lot of grief down the road if you even make it on the road at all.