Scott, I know you realize that what you are measuring with the solder is NOT the deck height, but the piston-to-cylinder-head clearance. If there is a flat lip at the edge of the piston it is posisble to measure from there to the cylinder top with a depth micrometer or the end of a vernier caliper (not the jaw end). But Wayne's book, and the CE technique he cites, both claim a range of 1.25 to 1.55mm.
OK, so what is the EXACT cylinder height? What is the height group marked on the side and then, using a caliper or a height gauge, what is the height of the one you show? The spec for 2.2/2.4/2.7/3.0 Turbo (hereinafter, the "62mm Engines") is 85.400-85.425mm for Height Group 5 and 85.425-85.450mm for Height Group 6. Admittedly, there's only .025mm of tolerance if you were expecting the shortest and got the longest but you need to be certain and it's an easy measurement.
Next: What is the compression height of the JE piston? Measured between the flat part at the edge and the top of the pin boss, then add 1/2 the pin diameter. Compression height should not be different than it is for all the 62mm Engines. This is not a measurement in the spec books, but JE certainly knows what it is.
You didn't check the rods after you got them back from Ollies, but you can still pull one off and verify a 130mm center-to-center distance. The procedure is to measure the distance between the inside edge of the big end and the inside edge of the small end, then measure both small and big end inside diameters and add back half of each measurement. You will have to replace the bolts and nuts and carefully retorque but it beats a complete teardown.
I agree with you that if the case had been decked you would probably have the opposite problem, as the pistons would be sticking too far out of the hole.
I'm guessing that the pistons are out of spec only because everything else is a "factory" part and you would probably have to really try to offset bore the rods by half a mil.
But of course I am FAR from an expert so I defer absolutely to the genuine ones who are probably watching the Academy Awards at this moment. Once they get disgusted, perhaps they will chime in . . . so expect more answers in about ten minutes
