So with all your knowledge what do you think bent the rod ?? Better yet I'd like to know what the shop is saying caused it , I don't care if you are the dumbest mechanic out there you know rods just don't bend or break the way this happened and be considered the fault of the op , that's all were saying , what did the op do that caused that rod to bend and lock the engine up ?!!!??!? That's my question to you , and someone being honest and someone taking responsibility for a $4500 short block plus labor are 2 different things.
The cause of this problem has been posted multiple times in this thread. I'll give you a hint, you're right, rods don't just bend out of nowhere- something caused it.