I thought they were to be soaked in oil overnight so they fill up before installing them.
I don't know how soft or hard they should be but I'm interested in this cause if my car sits for along time.. like over the winter... when I turn it over to start it the thing clank-a-dee-clank-a-clank clank clank until it fires then it seems to be fine.... I wonder if that's normal for them to drain off and that clank is the valve lash until they pump up..... right? Or are my lifters getting tired? like I said it only does that if it sits for a month or more.