Stopping the knock: Lower compression and ported heads...

I cleaned the pistons and rechecked the measurement the pistons sit below deck. When I first buit the engine in 2004, I thought I recorded a .017 number. For some crazy reason, this time every cylinder came to .012. I wonder if the machinist decked the block .005 when I had it in for honing in 2011....
The different number changes the CR from 10.73 to 10.84 to one.