Ok, here's what I've found so far...

All rockers are getting oil it takes a few minutes of idle time, but eventually, oil flows through the rocker, fills up the middle and it spills over the roller tip and all over the valve.

pushrods do contact guide plates in a few spots, and have worn the black finish off in a few spots on the pushrods, but the metal is not galled up, there is no wear into the metal at all, it's still perfectly smooth to the touch. There is no room to adjust the guide plates, only option is to open the plates up a little bit so they don't rub.

LOTS of clearance through the head for the pushrods. holes are probably 7/16 or 1/2, and the pushrods are only 3/8, and are not anywhere near contacting the head anywhere, and there are no marks on the pushrods to indicate rubbing on the heads

removed the valve spring on the #2 exhaust valve, the valve is..."Sticky" is the best that I can explain it. I can move it up and down without much effort, but they do feel like they stick a little bit. without the valve spring on, I can let go of the valve, and it stays where I put it, it does not fall through at all.

--is that too tight? or "just right"?

there is wear on the valve stem from the roller rocker, indicating that the valves do not spin. should they spin like lifters do? I thought I've heard somewhere about valves rotating, but I don't see anything on this that would force them to rotate, especially with a roller rocker.


I'm going to open up the guide plates, maybe check a few more valves, and see what happens.