Rotating assembly Options

[timothy_nd28]

15 years ago or so, I installed a big bore kit and dual carb cam from AA to my 1.8L 75 engine. I ran the engine for 5-10 mins then did a emergency shut down due to a massive oil leak. The leak was due from me installing the push rod tubes and heads as one complete assembly. A few days after the first engine start up, a massive tree fell down in my back yard, and smashed my nine one four, and part of my garage! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)
Last year I acquired a tub and have been putting the car back together. I have decided to ditch the carbs, and go back to the original Ljet system. In order to do this, I had to re-split the 1.8L case and replace the cam to web-cams stock cam. I have watched Jake Raby's video numerous times, and noticed a ton of mistakes that I have done 15 years ago. The biggest problem I'm having right now, is removing the wrist pin on the number 3 piston. All the other wrist pins slid right out with no issues. I ended up using a swivel adapter and some extensions to remove the rod cap, and removing the piston with the rod, before splitting the case. I tried using a C clamp to help persuade the wrist pin out, but was starting to damage the piston itself. I will take the number 3 piston/rod to a machine shop and let them have a go with it. Or am I better off leaving the wrist pin in, and just spinng the rod and piston 180 out, so the arrow faces the flywheel?
The problem I'm having, when I assembled this engine, I wasn't mindful of the arrows for the pistions. Number 3 and 4 arrows were pointed toward each other, and I believe 1 and 2 arrows were facing the flywheel. Now, looking at the engine case, there are marks of collision where the piston his the case.


number 3 cylinder


number 1 cylinder

No marks are seen on the case for number 2 or 4 cylinders. Did this happen due to the arrows not facing the correct way?
There were gaskets installed, one on the bottom of each cylinder and one on top.
Also, can I reuse my solid lifters that I bought from AA? There is barely any run time on them, and I believe they are webcam lifters.