Hi Scott, sounds like a good engine. Don't worry about the sleeves. If they were installed correctly, they're as good as a new block. Back in the early 40's some of the early 24 bolt flatheads came with sleeves from the factory.

Connecting rods are all the same. 8BA, 0BA, etc all measure the same. And they're all tough as nails. Henry got it right with his con rods.

Crank: I've never seen the number you found, but I haven't looked very close either. Same thing applies to cranks as con rods. They all measure out the same for the late series flathead. The EAB happens to have been cast for 52/53. I suspect some small variation was made - perhaps to the counterbalance weights or some such thing.

I'd do just what you were thinking about. Make sure it's clean, put in fresh rings and run it. It sounds like a keeper and should give you lots of trouble free miles - providing there's no hidden problems the previos owner forgot to mention