440 engine rod and main caps backwards !!

[smitty906]

So i just picked up a wheel tractor with a hoe for a restore and had a engine that was rebuilt laying around, so i decided to go through the engine before installing. Previous owner claimed bored .090 reground crank and rebuilt head. It was never started and had no spark plugs or dist installed and sat like this in a shop for 15 years.
So it was extremely hard to rotate by hand and i found 1 rod cap on backwards - tangs opposite, along with thrust bearing backwards also tangs opposite !!
Thrust face of bearing down to copper hopefully reuseable , rod bearings not too bad .
I cannot find top marking on piston to see if they were correct in orientation , just found a F cast into piston inside of skirt area near pin . Im guessing this is front for orientation . Also there are 2 raised dimples on rod caps which i read should face towards cam, and im guessing should be on same side of rod for correct bearing placement .....haha.
There is light to moderate rust inside block and like 1/4" of sludge inside of oil pan . I am sure glad i decided to tear down .
It was bored .045 and you can tell where this was stuck at one point as the cyls did not clean up completely , i hope its good enough for occasional use.
Is it ok to reuse head gasket , engine was torqued but never fired ?
I wish i knew how to upload pics , this is interesting to say the least !!
Another question this tractor has been sitting for along time and was told to replace reverser seal , does this sound right ? Reverser and trans shift smoothly same as my crawler . Is there any other areas i should look at while i have this torn apart ?

Mark

[Lavoy]

Piston orientation is irrelevant, but the connecting rods have to go in a certain way. "Dimples to the cam" is what I use I remember it, but check your service manual to be sure I am remembering correctly.
Lavoy