I finally got somewhere! I clamped the bellhousing to my drill press table and enlarged the four 3/8" mounting bolt holes to 7/16" and the two 7/16" holes to 1/2" (thus allowing an additional +/- .030" range of movement before the bolts interfere with the holes).
Next I bolted it back up and verified I still had .020 too much indicator travel with the .014 offset pins at their highest, maximum reading at 12:00 (i.e. the bellhousing sits too low on the block).
Loosened the bolts finger tight (dial ind. moved about .005 before all six were loose), gently used a pry bar and mallet between the housing and the floor until an additional .010 was on the dial, tightened all six bolts and noted the reading was now about +.012.
Reset it to zero and voila... 0.005" max indicator travel (.0025" runout) close enough for me!
I think even the .021 offset pins might not give enough "range" because the two bores in the Lakewood look like they have been abused somewhat... which appears to be the source of my problem. Oversize dowel holes will make it impossible to accurately center the housing unless pins with large offsets are available. I got this housing years ago and it has an '00 SFI recert sticker on it so who knows how many times it's been on and off since it was made.
My plan is to buy the weld-on washers from Lakewood and tack them in place over the dowels exactly where it is now.
What a royal PITA. But I still like the idea of keeping my feet, not to mention saving spectators, if my flywheel or clutch should take a dump at 6k plus!
-Charles