Mitsubishi 2.6 Reassembly Puzzle

I am re-building a Mitsubishi 2.6 L engine (Caravan 84). After
installing the main bearings and finding all appeared well – the crank
turned without effort, I started to install rod bearings, trying #1
and #3 pistons. The rotational resistance torque increased by over 100
ft.lb with rod bearing #1 tightened to spec (34 ft.lb) and that of #3
to 55 ft.lb with rod bearing tightenened to spec. This was without any
rings installed so that the increased rotational resistance is only
due to the bearing. The diameter of the crankshaft and the clearance
as measured with Pastigauge (deformable plastic gauge) a

Piston Diam(in) Clearance(Thou) Clearance Spec (Thou)
(Haynes)

1 2.057 .001 .0008 to .0028
2 2.056
3 2.056 .00125
4 2.056

What am I doing wrong? Thanks for any light you can shed.

Notes
1. The crankshaft was ground to .030 (main and rod)
2. The main bearings are labelled .030
3. The rod bearings are labelled .75 (I assume mm, the equivalent of
..030
thou)
4. The bearing shells are located correctly with the tabs in the
slots.
5. The Plastigauge was used properly, w/o oil film.
6. The bearing were coated with oil for the turning test