PROJECT: MGTD-51: Another Plot Twist

PROJECT 51: Another plot twist. In every other engine I've ever put together it is possible to install the assembled connecting-rod/piston/ring-set through the cylinder from above. Not so with the MG. The cylinders are too small in diameter for the big-end of the connecting rod to pass through them.
As a comparison, a Model-T's cylinders are 3 3/4" across. A 2020 Corvette's are 4 1/8". A 1968 Volkswagen Beetle's are 3 1/2". The MG's cylinders are a smidge over 2 1/2" in diameter. (The machine shop said it was like working on a four-cylinder lawnmower engine.)
As a result, the pistons must be inserted into the cylinders from inside the engine block before the crankshaft is installed. The pistons are then extended out the top of the block where the rings are installed. The rings are then compressed, and the piston is tapped back into the cylinder. It's a little convoluted, but it works.
With all four pistons installed, I set the crankshaft into its bearings and then torqued its three main-bearing caps in place. Next, I installed and torqued the connecting rod bearing caps, and then pulled the crank over a couple of times to make sure everything was free. I then set about inserting the cotter pins through all of the castellated nuts. That's when I noticed the Brutus twist.
Looking down into the block, I could easily see that the wrist-pin in the fourth piston was not lined up with the crankshaft. The connecting rod was twisted! I can only imagine that Brutus did it while trying to get the wrist-pin bolt loose. (Apparently the machine shop only inspected the large-end bearing diameters.)
In the 1952 shop manual, in the section regarding the "removal and replacement of the pistons," it mentioned that each piston could be removed from the block without removing the crankshaft, "if both piston and crank are manipulated in the proper manner." It would never have occurred to me to even try that if I hadn't read it there.
So, I disconnected the bearing cap, poked the piston out the top, removed the rings, and slid the piston back into the block.
It was like a three-dimensional brain-teaser puzzle, but sure enough, there was exactly one way of getting that piston out and I managed to find it!
Holding the piston in the bench vice with the wrist-pin caps I had made for removing the original bolts, I was able to get the twist out of the connecting rod using a 12-inch adjustable wrench clamped right next to the bearing-end of the rod.
Brutus must have clamped the bearing-end of the rod in a vice while cranking on the wrist-pin bolt. That would have forced the length of the rod to absorb all of the torque he was putting on the bolt before it finally broke free. Connecting rods are engineered to take straight push-pull loads; they never see torque in a running engine, so they are not designed to be strong in that direction.
Either the other three bolts were not as stuck as that one, or Brutus saw the error in his ways after his first attempt, but none of the other rods were twisted, thankfully!
Re-reassembly was pretty straightforward, after which I installed all of the (correct-size) cotter pins, and then added a few more of the accessories to the block, including a new timing chain. (Note the difference in its slack from the old one.)