Hi,

Been thinking about you!

As far as putting the engine and transmission back in, using a leveling rail is the ticket to work alone.
You crank it to a move the hook between the chains to shift weight.
It allows you to tip it very steeply to miss the front bracing in one fell swoop.
It helps for the car to be up off the ground some.
In a junkyard they use car rims and a gantry on tires that roll.
A “cherry picker” hoist is what I have and I think that’s what you are referring to.
You might rent one of those but that depends on how much versus buying for a fleet of vehicles.

@312,000 miles that’s a lot of ups and downs on the rings.
Even though they are sealing now a person might want to give them another thought.

Rings do wear and a thinning occurs between diameters.
This causes upper ring chamfering to disappear some.
It lends to direct ring pressure that by now does have less effectiveness. They do expand during compressions and firings.
A loss of ring tension means even the oil scraper rings are also doing less of that.

You say the valve guides were not salvageable as in getting them knurled and fitted again.
So that fits with the high mileage and getting new ones is very admirable for longevity.

You will have to pull the head again as the bores have to be scuffed to seat the rings.
This only if the bores are in tolerance.
Bores come can be Oversized or tapered.
The right on size works if in an allowable tolerance.
That can be tolerated, up to a certain point?
Not doing anything is rolling the dice with this mileage.
IMO for a difference of a few hundred bucks comes some peace of mind.

Boring the cylinders, was in my day was about $30 a hole and that included the cross hatching honed surface. Everything is fitted to the pistons provided.
Even piston knurling can be done as it only affects the skirt. For example, If you cannot get pistons for an engine it’s an option.
It is what rings and an Oiled piston skirt do.
These make up a floating bearing all supporting the connecting rods alignment.

Besides possible newer pistons a lower end should be a relatively an inexpensive outlay.
If the crankshaft journals and the throws are not wiped, as it appears, then grinding the crankshaft for connecting rods will be minimal or not needed. There is an allowance for taper and insert sizing.

It will be up to the setup mechanic as from there he is just torquing bolts to finish up a total rebuild.

Those parts mentioned above can make him a profitable enough.
There are Markups are hidden everywhere.
So, if he if honest to his trade he will be happy getting you there.
He should do it for an additional reputation as a go to man!

In the 1800’s it was important to hang a “shingle.” It represents a town’s offerings of trade for miles around.

I think you said for twenty years now.
There it is!


Phil