Maybe it could be a wristpin? How could I check the wrist pin with it all still assembled?
on the exhaust cycle of a piston, rotate the crank the way the engine would rotate when running so it pushes the piston up the cylinder, stop and push on the underside of the piston with somethin, see if it moves up, but would be again hard to tell unless it is very obvious. You can also try with the piston all the way down and move the crank back and forth and try to see if there's play between the pin and piston (so the pin would go up and down and the piston would not move
EDIT: how loud is it though, just wondering if you're chasing ghosts. could be just piston slap in which case would be very hard to tell unless you can move the skirt side to side (same axis as the longest part of the skirt) and estimate the clearance. also, inspect the cam since you have the oil pan out and see if there's any unusual wear, that can also cause strange noises