About the burrs, they look worse in the picture than what they really are. They are only superficial scratches and they are on the outside, they don't even get inside the very center where the pin is supposed to go. In any case, I carefully sanded those scratches and the hole with fine grit sandpaper and oil. I also tried the pin on the other side (which had no burrs/damage) and tried turning it and different things and still didn't go in.
Only after freezing the pin (after ruining the piston) did I manage to insert the pin straight a few milimiters on the other side (which wasn't ruined).
"shouldn't be required unless the rod is a shrink fit onto the pin (check first)." Why would it be a shrink fit?
I remember when I took out than pin for the first time, it was a pain. It was quite stuck in there, maybe cause it's 22 years old.
With the new piston I'll make sure it's a surgical cleaning though; don't want to screw it up again.
