Jack, I had a similar situation a while back with my Arrow - blades
turned up out of spec when removed for service. I could not find
serviceable blades, so the only option appeared to be new 2-blade or
new 3-blade from Hartzell (Macauley apparently didn't have one for my
1969 model).

The 3-blade was about $1 AMU cheaper so that's what I did.

True airspeed is difficult to measure with precision. I definitely am
not going any faster, but can still produce 175 mph alone aboard at 75%
best power, and as you say the climb performance is enhanced. The
airplane is a little quieter. You have to experiment with mounting a 3
blade prop on a 4 cylinder engine. A 180 degree rotation helped reduce
vibration big time on mine. You also get a little better ground
clearance.

All things being equal, I'd still go with 2 blades, but saving an AMU
tipped the balance and I've not been sorry.