Tom, you da man.
I would love to know the number associated with this statement:
"The builder felt he had allowed adequate piston clearance."
If you were talking about pinion preload you would want the exact number i think.
And
"Several people suggested I didn't know how to drive a Model A"
seriously? who needs opinions from them anyway.
And despite all I said above, I will vote down cheapo foreign parts any day of the week. You get what you pay for, someone once said.....