Today I went ahead and mated the case halves together - only a few minor glitches along the way.
For starters - I somehow forgot to apply sealant to the number 8 bearing o-ring prior to laying in the crankshaft and mounting the oil pump and intermediate shaft - Ooops. Since I had already bent the tabs on the oil pump nuts, I managed to remove the crankshaft, apply the sealant to the o-ring and reinstall while leaving the pump & intermediate shaft in place - it's possible, but not the preferred assembly method...
Possibly could have done without the sealant (Threebond 1211 from the Supertec sealant kit) - but figured I would kick myself if I hadn't and later sprung a leak.
I was also a bit concerned that the flywheel seal didn't look right (gapped at the top), but figured it would even out when I mated the case halves - it did:
I built some rod and cam chain holders out of a 8' length of 1 1/2" wide aluminum flat stock that I picked up at Lowes. I figured this would be easier than cutting up some strips of sheet metal as per Wayne's Engine Rebuild book:
I went ahead and prep'd everything - tools and stuff all laid out and ready on my cart:
I lubed up the case through bolt Viton o-rings with Dow 55 o-ring lube (o-rings and lube come in the Supertec sealant kit). I scrubbed a bit of the lube on the o-rings and in the areas where the washers and case are beveled - for good measure, there's plenty of lube to go around.
I applied what I thought was a reasonably good bead of Threebond 1184 to the case perimeter. Shortly after applying it, it spread out and I realized I was a bit too happy with the stuff:
No biggie - I was able to remove some of the excess with the toothbrush that I planned to use to spread the stuff out.
I went a bit easier on the Loctite 574 application to the bearing web surfaces:
This amount spread out to a nice even layer:
Everything's still cool at this point - now its time to mate the cases.
As I attempted to place the case on top of the other, I came to a sudden realization - the 1 1/2 wide aluminum stock material that I used to make the connecting rod and timing chain holders didn't fit through the case half
OK - now my hair's on fire. I grabbed my son (who should have been helping and learning in the first place - but he isn't interested - wait till he asks for the keys someday..). He came out and helped me manually feed the timing chain and connecting rods through the case. Again, not the preferred method - but it worked, crisis resolved.
And the outcome (with my favorite engine rebuild lubricant in the background)
And finally a recommended update to Wayne's awesome rebuild book -
use something smaller than 1 1/2" wide material to make your connecting rod and timing chain holders with 
Getting there slowly.
Gordo