Fresh engine, wiped cam? Tick? (new pics added)

Myasylum....I think someone else has already suggested this....my bud said you should try soaking them in a cup of oil (old soup can would be good) and use a pushrod to pump them a bit. that may be enough to fill them up and then you could at least check your pushrod length.
At this point I'm kinda thinkin that if you can get them (or at least one or two) to pump up, you can use them to check your pushrod length..and hey, if you can get them to all pump up and act right, use em and see. At least then you can see if the (correct length) pushrods are rotating like they are supposed to.
In case you are wondering, you can change the lifters with the intake on if the need arises...it's a little tricky but I've done it a couple times when I hammered some solid lifters.