[CWizard]

A local engine guy examined the retainers and keepers and meaured spring tension. His conclusions: 1. Keepers are properly sized and wear is normal. 2. Spring tension is ok. 3. Valve geometry is still not right (I had replaced the rockers and increased pushrod length earlier attempting to correct this). 4. My measurements suck (ouch!). So he put it back together with .010 longer pushrods and added lash caps to the valve stems. This should fix the geometry problem. And he also came up with a jig to measure valve tip and retainer height. He did this just to demonstrate to me that the valve tips weren't slipping through the retainers. Said he knew I'd worry about it otherwise. Pretty nice guy! So after another 3-400 miles I'll go back and we'll compare height measurements to ones he took last week, and then I'll stop worrying. But it looks like a happy outcome.
Thanks again for the input!