piston questions

And my final thought, BALANCE EVERY ENGINE YOU ASSEMBLE. It’s a non negotiable part of engine building.
A big part of the problem with whether to/not to is the increased lack of automotive machine shops around here, I don't know if any within a couple of hours drive that "for sure" offer that service, there are a few machine shops within that radius that I've used, and none have offered to balance anything that I've ever brought in so all I can do is assume they don't. The 2 closest to me can polish a crank, but can't machine them, both have to farm them out that need cut down.
The last several car/truck cranks I have had haven't needed ground undersized but it seems like I can't send them a crank out of a single cylinder Kohler that doesn't have to be ground...
If I knew of someone who balanced engines I could call and get at least a feel for how much it would add to the cost of a rebuild.
Ido agree, it can't hurt, and will probably add to longevity of a build but I can't not work on engines because I can't find a shop that balances them if that makes Sense