True if numbers are even that should be an indicator of another issue , I would personally never just hone. A 26 as it's such a big job to get to that point but each to their own I guess really in worst case could be a bit more blow by or just a more noisy engine but as was states earlier honing doesn't take much off but my point was more that an engine that has run for some time may have a taper in the bore, on some of the lesser engines I've built eg Honda lol if just being honed only I would check
The ring gaps at 3 different spots in the bore to make sure I wasn't going to have any dramas . Hopefully it's just a gauge issue in this case as sometimes it's the simple things that cause the most drama . Best of luck to the op ,
Scott