What do you make of this, hot push rods.

GEO said
I would think about doing away with the shims and lash caps myself

Yes, I agree. The valve train needs to be completely redone. This is how it was set up way back in 89/90 when my friend owned the car and it was running high 11s.

It's screwy, that's why I mentioned starting over. I think the valves too long.