Hi Guys, sorry to bring this post back from the dead but I finally got a chance to pull the engine again. Torque converter was spinning freely with no issues, apart from the fluid being a bit toast, I was able to reinstall it.

As for the engine, it still doesn't spin freely when i rotate the crank, it seems to get caught up. Whats even weirder is how my exhaust ports look coming out of the exhaust valves

I don't understand why the 2 outermost ports are black and the inner ones are like clean. I am guessing it means I am having incomplete combustion but its really stumping me.