Dont worry Al - I been doing it wrong for almost 40 years also - and yes roller rockers were available - common and used over 30 years ago and a 750 lift Crane R296 with custom HS 1.7 (yes they made them) got you close to an .850 lift - the idea was to keep the valve open at peak flow as long as possible - this was using iron heads with longer valves and 2' installed height - those were the days of innovation!