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The more an engine comes apart, the more we learn how steep the climb becomes. My engine is a couple steps further along than Rusty's. The machinist I use is of the utmost quality and experience. His specialty is align honing. When he looked at the 9 main 356 he initially thought it couldn't be too far off. When he did the align hone, he was surprised at how far apart the some of the mains were from each other. They are all strait now. Heating and cooling the block causes warp. Over time the bearings wear to accommodate this warp. Recently we did a quickie rebuild on a 302 Ford. replaced pistons, rings and bearings. Installing the new main bearings and checking with a dial bore gauge, all had the proper clearance. During assembly the crank turned great with one main, the second cause resistance and the 3rd locked it down. We brought this block to the machinist. He honed it and said the crank tunnel was really warped. Both of these go to show that every rebuild needs and align hone. The cam tunnel would also be warped in the Ford. Since we weren't changing cam bearings, we left well enough alone.
Speaking of cam bearings, I attempted to order a set from Egge. They did not have a complete set for the 356. Not sure if the 327 has the same amount of cam bearings.
For pistons, I decided to go with more of a custom piece. While perhaps 2 to 3 times the price of the Egge pistons, there are some parameters I would like. The custom pistons are available in .001" increments. The 356 cylinders were honed to .024 over. Pistons will be ordered for that size. The custom pistons will have thinner modern rings.
Currently I am working on valves. Unsure whether to use to the stock valves or just replace all, even though some appear to be new.
Life would be slightly easier if I were to rebuild using stock parts. Hard to resist putting my personal spin on things.
Did you see the video of using the stud removal tool? The studs are in there pretty darned well.

Glad to see you are making progress.

"Align hone", shouldn't that be align bore?

EDIT - I stand corrected.

Align bore is a more common term, But I think either process could be used, depending on how much material needed to be removed. You can hone cylinders with a hand drill and cylinder hone, or you can put the block in a machine with the hone on a spindle that does a high precision job with the correct crosshatch finish. refinishing the crank bore is similar to reconditioning connecting rods, except that all the main bearing bores must be aligned, which might be a challenge in a straight eight. I'd think you'd need a spindle supported at both ends. A dummy shaft to check the job would probably be needed, too.

Align hone is the correct term. Stones are being used for material removal. Generally, only a few thousands needs to be removed to put the main bores in alignment. A large amount of material removal would require boring with a cutting tool. Bore diameter must remain within spec to provide proper interference fit for the bearing. Some material is removed from the mating face of the cap to reduce the inner diameter. Then it is honed into alignment and bore size.
Tonight I might be going to pick up the Packard block. Then, review the section in here on side mounting the block to the engine stand. Even with a stand that is stout enough, it just seems like too much weight pulling on the bolt holes to mount it to only the bell.

Quote:

Ross had great advice on drilling the mounting plate. I didn't measure as carefully as I should have but it all worked out in the end. Side mounting is great. But once things start going back in like the crank, it will be very difficult to flip it over. I used my lift and that made it controllable and safe. Mounting lower would have been an option but you need to carefully measure to make sure you can still flip the engine.