Not trying to be critical but does your camera suck or is your shop just dark? I don't know if I'm just getting old or what but I need tons of light when I work.
That trick with the BBC studs is something I do on every Pontiac engine I do because if you surfaced the heads or decked the block or did a valve job that adjustment of bottoming the nut are long gone. It's cheap also!
Your thread still rocks BTW! Please keep posting! 