I appreciate all the responses you guys.

Yes, I did educate myself as to the tools and various ways of executing this process, but extra materials are always welcome, so "Thank You" Mr PotatoHead!

The bolts have had their free lengths all measured and recorded. Each rod set it flagged as either IN/OUT, meaning with the rod installed on the crank, is the bolt closest to the center of the block (IN), or is it facing OUT. My process so far was to tighted the bolt in: 20-50-60-65-70-75 steps and measure the stretch each time. I figured I would start off with this and as I established the "feel" for how these bolts respond, I would mostly likely just dwindle this down to a 60-65-70-75 stepping afterwards.

I have several dial indicators available, including a 0.0001" as well, which actualy does provide the most stable measurements. My only problem with that one is the fact that the Amazon ad mentioned nothing about it being a 8mm stem and well given that my tools which are all meant for 3/8" I was hesitant to put that one to use. Anyways, last night I tossed it in, it gets locked into place by the gauge set-screw anyways, so no movement is possible and the center of it's stem will be off-center by just a tad. I thought it would be worth it just to see how it compares.

The results are more stable for sure, certainly the precision makes it much easier to pin-point the center of the bolt. It was late, my eyes were tired, I was grumpy and still frustrated, so I wrapped it up. More 'trial and error' today...lol!

Now, most of the time a picture's worth a thousand words, right? So take a peek at a few pics of what I have here.

Ultimately it would seem to me that for this specific measurement a dial indicator with a slightly higher measuring force/pressure is needed. That way the tip stays more firmly planted in either end of the bolt you chose to place the indicator on. I think this is what KD800X is talking about in his post and the reason why Hemi_Joel is relying on a slightly different way of positioning things. I will have to try that.

Thanks again everyone, now off I go back to the "lab" for more experimentation!