Here's what I found out (so far) and it's probably not the last word:
The lockrings come in 3 sizes of thread OD:26mm, 27mm and 29mm
The old 8-spd. body I took the cassette from used the 29mm ring and was probably from around '91 to '94.
the NEW body/hub might be a 9-spd but it was sold to me as an 8-spd and the 8-spd cassette fits on perfectly (at least until I do the last step and see if a lockring cinches it tight). This hub is marked Chorus and has to be a '97 or '98, it takes the 26mm ring ('99 Athenas are the other hub/year that used 26).
All the later rings (Campy and Miche) seem to be 27mm, but there are 2 sizes of flange (what I mistakenly was calling the thread OD) that match either a 11t or a 12t small cog.
So...
I'm looking for a Campy lockring with 26mm thread OD and will swap a Campy sealed BB unit for one...I'll post this in ISO and a pic of the BB, too.