My plan is to use a borescope to inspect the piston. If I see damage inside the cylinder, I'll pull the entire engine. If I don't see any damage in the piston, I'll pull the head & re-inspect the piston again when the head is off.
Since you will be pulling the head in either case, why not just pull it first?
I would like to keep the engine assembled while pulling it, just makes it easier to wrench on and stay organized if the engine is out of the engine bay, before disassembling.
