Ok, reel 1 sync with MW's audio is done. It went pretty much as expected. A couple of rough spots, requiring me to cut the audio into three pieces and then stretch them each independently. Had to play with the splice area so there wouldn't be a gap. But overall it only took about an hour or two... much easier than syncing with the 16mm audio.
MW's audio rip is 44.1. Will upsample to 48, then convert to ac3.
Will start on reel 2 tomorrow.