Motor #2... in the trash

[Andy]

Balancing/blueprinting equipment is pretty expensive

Balancing, yes - and probably best left to the pros. At least with the honda, the only thing to balance is the crank and flywheel.

Blueprinting isnt bad, you would just need some fixtures and a scale accurate to .001 grams. Maybe I will start building "pro" spec miata engines

Honing the cylinders, measuring them to ensure they're straight, cc'ing the head, piston to wall clearance aren't run of the mill stuff. I'm not trusting a drill and a bottle brush to ensure my hatching is up to snuff.

Personally, I think learning to assemble the engine is a more gooder practice than "engine builder" activities. Assembling engines is the beginner level of engine building. You get to take some basic measurements, torque down some stuff and frankly, the first time you put together an engine, it's damn plenty exciting.