Block out of square

Treblig said
Being a machinist I would think that the factory, or any company making engine blocks, would have fixtures that held the blocks in the exact correct orientation for each machining process, there's no other way to mass produce factory engine blocks. If one block was off .040" on the back face they should all be off (which doesn't make any sense).

Absolutely, yes... Assuming that every single block through that machine is fixtured and clamped properly. There's never a single block that someone clamped only at one end, and never a block that got set down in the fixture with a metal chip under it, lifting one end... A 60 thou piece of debris trapped under the nose of the block while the rear face is machined would produce rhis amount of error, right?

Treblig said
If the crank in walking front to back as Wenger is checking for square it might make a difference in the reading??? treblig

Yes, there's about 5 thou of end to end play. When I dialed the flange, I gave a bit of persuasion to the front end of the crank with a plastic mallet each time I turned the crank, to ensure that play is not in the measurements.