Cleaning, once the heavy grunge is off, I find something like Incredible Pink, and Castrols purple cleaner work well. These newer citrus degreasers can work well, some dishwash soaps are not bad either.
They fit into the soap and water category. Use brushes to get the galleys clean. If you have a pressure washer they are nice for rinse down.
The drying process is important and this is where WD 40 comes in. As you are drying the parts coat the machined surfaces with WD 40 or LPS1 when still wet with water to lift the water from the pores of the metal. This will give you short term rust protection till assembly. Plus todays high end piston rings do not want oil on them during installation so the WD 40 fits the bill to provide just enough protection of the bores till startup.

Rear seal, I stone the top off the groove in the crank and then move the new seal so it does not ride in that spot.
Where the 2.6 seal installs from the inside I have machined the seal area deeper to seat the seal outwards.
You might be able to get by with a spacer to move it inwards or just not seat it in it's bore. A bit of creativity should allow you to get it true to the bore but moved to suit.
I have only needed to move the rear seal on one engine but routinely need to move front ones.