Fitting Rods to the Crankshaft

To fit the connecting rods to the crankshaft, I turn the bare crank over using a tire iron in the teeth of the ring gear. When a journal is just past TDC I take the nuts off the connecting rod and remove the rod cap making sure the insert bearings and shims do not fall out. I put the top half of the rod though the hole in the top of the crankcase and reach through the hand hole on the side of the crankcase and put the cap on the rod. I hold the rod cap on with one hand from the top and reach through the side hand hole and put the nuts on the con rod bolts. This is not fun and a strech since the side hand holes are down in the loco frame. I reach down through the side hole and tighten the rod nuts with a 1/2 inch ratchet wrench inside the crankcase. After torqueing the nuts if the rod is too tight I have to take it out and add a shim. If its too loose I remove a shim. Do that 2 or 3 times on each con rod until the rod turn freely with no other play. It took a day and a half to shim the rods the first time. I took the rods home and decided that a couple inserts were rough and that there were better ones. I swicthed out the rough shells. I spent another day sitting on the crankcase fitting the rods. I took them home again and noticed a few of the shells moved laterally when the caps were bolted in place. I didnt want any shells moving when we were assembling the engine or running it. I did some research and decided to mount them in place using high temperature bearing mount. I used Locktite 620. After mounting the inserts I spent another day checking all the rods in the crankcase. They had changed a little bit and I had to shim two rods.