I will say Keith you have one thing right and that is to know what a shops abilities are. As for the rest I never bought into he is a chevy guy and can only work on chevy's. Every engine has its own oddities to know about, but some things don't change much. If you cannot look at a sonic map and off set bore something correctly that is the fault of the guy doing it. You look at the map not offset #2 to the left. Is like the doctor cutting off the wrong leg.
I can say this I grow up around Fords, worked in a machine shop that bleed ford blue, built street to race and everything in between. They even put a set of Cleveland Hi port heads on a SBC block and raced it in a dirt modified. Don't ask why...
Built a lot of Chevy's, Some BOP, Mopars, Flat head fords, and farm tractor engines from 1920. A good shop can do it all and has the sense to ask and find out when needed. Boring cylinders and balancing crankshafts does not require an FE guru. Just a guy that knows his stuff, has the right equipment, and is interested in doing quality work.
Not the OP, but to answer about the balance question that Eagle rod is a good 40 or so grams heavier on the big end so that is adding 80+ grams to the bob weight. Short answer is that is way too much to not get the crank balanced.