Variable hydraulic lifters for 440 engine

Oh man, that must have been a real pain, bringing that block around shops to get the screw up's fixed.
And then even denying they did not do that....

I guess a 440 will push a bit more air back to the intake compared to a 367, so being a BB it will worsen the situation compared to a SB.
If i go ahead of buying and installing these variable lifters, the valley pan needs to be pulled again anyway.
I can remove the intake now and double check the sealing area between intake and valley pan sealing face for any potential leaks that might be there.
Your story makes me wonder, the heads were not removed and the flange angles have not changed.
But if they are wrong, they are still wrong and if they leaked before, they could still leak.
Although i did not hear/notice any leak, a visual will tell more then that i think.
We know it is not pulling air from between the valley pan and cylinder heads as the crankcase builds up pressure when blocked off.

Whatever i find there, i can reseal it temporary using a gasket and rtv for another test and see what vacuum i am getting then.
Anyway i will be going back to work next week, if i do find nothing wrong with the intake sealing faces i can order them and by the time i am back home again they will be already here waiting for me.