For the rods, stack them up on their sides and line up the big ends. Then look at how the small ends line up. That'll tell you if they're bent. I had one that was .030" short and it cost me 30psi of compression.

That top part of your piston was vaporized, literally, which is why you can't find it. You can see it tunneling down behind the top ring into the ring land area. That's that "V" shape.