LEV120 Crankshaft Binding

I'm not sure why something that should be so straight forward is causing me so much trouble. I appreciate the help from SRTsFZ6 so far in my prior posts as I'm new at this. 
 
I'm working on a vertical shaft LEV120-362003A 6.5HP from a 2003 Toro mower. It hit a hard object that resulted in a cracked sump, bent crank shaft, and sheared flywheel key. I bought a new sump and a used crankshaft. I also have a new gasket installed as well. The issue is that with only the crankshaft installed (and the piston arm attached to the crankshaft) when I place the sump back on and only hand tighten a couple of bolts the crankshaft binds to where I can barely turn it and there is no end play. With the sump off and with the crankshaft attached to the piston arm, it turns easily. The spark plug is not installed, and this happens with or without the camshaft or the lifters installed.
 
My first thought was I needed a little more clearance, so instead of just the gasket, I placed a thin bead of RTV to supplement the thickness of the gasket, but same result. End play tolerance is in thousandths of an inch (.005 - .027), but it seems like it needs more clearance. If I just place the sump on without any bolts and just make sure it is fully seated, I can turn the crankshaft easily, but still no end play that I can detect. Once I put in a couple of bolts with only enough torque to hold the sump in place, it takes way too much force to get the crankshaft to budge. The top oil seal is the original and looks to be ok and in the correct position.
 
What am I missing? Does it make sense to double or triple the gaskets? That seems like an unusual remedy. I'm willing to try and replace the top seal just to be sure. Besides that, I'm out of ideas.