when I read " Indy told me the deck height would change about 0.010" at 170F. With a 1.7 rocker, that's ~0.017" lash change." My 1st thought is "doesn't your pushrods and valves expand also?" I know that the valves and the pushrods don't expand as much as the block (steel vs Al) but they do expand. Which is why if you run a iron block and iron head the clearance tightens up a few thousands. (iron vs steel)

Joe