Your understanding is correct Will. As well as that, it's valuable to ensure that the crank rod journals are centered in the cylinder bores. There's not a lot of leeway anyway but I had my guy verify that. The good news is that if it's not right, you can drill and ream new dowels holes to correct any discrepancy.
What you can do is start by installing the bearings undoweled and install the crank without the gear or flywheel, the flywheel end cover with gasket and torque the bolts, then, depending on how you like to do it, center the rod journals with the bores, then bring the two dowels in to within half the minimum end clearance each, and mark the bearings through the dowel holes so you know where to drill. I think the service reference might state the drill size and then you finish ream the hole so the dowel is a press fit (e.g. doesn't drop in but you need to lightly tap it in). Some folks put a thin smear of epoxy on the dowel to help with retention. I didn't but that's partly because I used a different clearance method, which was described by a forum member many years ago. That method doesn't rely on the bearing position for clearance. Instead, the crank ends and the two faces that face the crank ends are milled and a bronze washer of the appropriate width to maintain clearance is installed, one on each end. It costs a bit more but removes the vulnerability of relying on the dowels to maintain the clearance because there's more clearance between the bearings and the crank than between the washers and the faces. When the tractor is clunking around the field, the pony crank is banging backwards and forwards, unlike when it's running funnily enough, and so those dowels are constantly being beaten on. Eventually, they'll loosen up.

Hi Eddie, tell me what search terms you used, and specifically what you expected to find (like thread name if you have it or a description of the list of threads that "should" result). I'll check what I get and then go to IT to see what the deal is. One search type that I'd like is "threads I started" which the current search engine doesn't have.

Thanks Eddie, I'll start checking into it to see why it's not pulling up