M&H A scale and rim movement

[Richard Anderson]

I need help with two puzzles on a M&H A I unstrung today.

First, this piano was previously rebuilt by a shop that is famous for its
creative work. The scale they used does not match anything in Guide to
Restringing. There is an A scale that starts with 11 nineteens that I've
found on pianos with serial numbers on either side of this one, but it's not
even close to what was on this piano. Does anyone have an original scale
from a serial number closer to 18706 than 19828 or 18656?

Serial number 18706 (1909)
scale designation cast in plate is A.
treble bridge has big hook, bass bridge is straight
2 bicords on treble bridge
60 plain wire unisons
no individual rear aliquots
lots of little ribs up in the treble
spider is present but may have been messed with (at least he didn't remove
  it, there's another shop that routinely removes them)

Second, once unstrung, the plate wedge fell out as usual, but the gap is now
at least 1/16" greater that the thickness of the wedge. I've not seen one
open up this far before. Also the board moved down .010" with unstringing.
I'm having trouble visualizing how the rim/plate/belly rail are moving so
much. More importantly I have to decide whether to install the plate where
it's at or move it, and whether to replace the wedge with a thicker one or
not. The previous rebuilder replaced the block (not glued in of course) so
the current placement is suspect. Any thoughts on what's going on with this
piano?

Thanks,

Richard Anderson
Elgin,IL