100% Sure. Without the crown, so only with the bearings, the headtube touches the fork.
Mine came with the crownrace and when I asked Jack he said it was needed. I used a piece of PVC to try and set the race and I don't think it will go down any farther. Mine has about a 3mm gap, larger than my 'brand name' bikes, I never paid attention to this before. I expect even serious bikers wouldnt notice anything. I think its like AMG Mercedes owners, 99% of population would know difference between C300 and C63s AMG but there is BIG difference.
Re Bearings. Jack said, 8mm is for the upper, and 7mm is for the lower, but if you need you can use the 8mm in the bottom.