SO... after a few range trips, troubleshooting, some part swapping, and getting help from various people here, my rifle is "done"! Special thank-you to Barney aka TacticalTeacher for being so generous in helping out and giving advice when I got stuck!
Things that were tweaked/fixed/replaced:
1. Dremel/file off the Norc trigger housing tabs so that the it sits high enough for the sear to catch the hammer. Excellent info from the sticky here. I had to file quite a bit so took some elbow grease, but safety is first!
2. Reindex the barrel and check head space
3. Shim the gas block for tight lock up and proper gas lock rotation
4. Dremel off the MASSIVELY high Norc front sight blade so that the point of impact is correct
5. Knurl the barrel for tight lock up with the EBR op rod guide
6. Replace bolt stop with USGI part. Norc one was not catching the bolt properly and didn't lock up on last round consistently
7. Replace ejector, ejector spring, extractor, extractor spring, extractor plunger with USGI parts. To fix ejection angle issue with the ARMS18 mount
8. Replace op rod spring guide with M14.ca part
9. Replace op rod spring with NM part
10. Replace op rod spring guide connector lock pin with USGI part with proper length.
PHEW. Now it shoots smoothly and is rock solid. Early testing seems to be shooting at around 1.5MOA but I think it will do better with proper ammo and better bipod/bag. Will need to tinker with the EBR's barrel set screw as well. Apparently a properly done EBR can shoot sub-MOA so I'd be happy as hell to get anywhere close to that!
Future project:
1. Refinish the surface. Norc stuff is rough! Maybe cerokote it
2. Might tinkering a bit more with the ejector spring so it ejects more flat...
You guys have been very helpful. Thanks again (especially Barney!).