I don't know what this engine came with originally, but when I got it it had hydraulic lifters installed. When the machine shop did all the work they gave me a set of hydraulic lifters and a hydraulic cam.

As far as pre-filling the hydraulic lifters, from Deve's "Project 1959 235" under initial valve adjustment...
"There is no need to take them apart and put oil in them. They will pump up almost right away during operation, and it is not needed for a proper initial adjustment anyway. In fact, we haven't even put oil in this engine yet! "

The push rods were the ones that were in the engine when I got it, so my assumption is that they should work.

I went out this evening and pulled the side cover, slipped out the bent push rod and straightened it out (it was just barely bent),
and loosened all of the rocker arm adjustments as far as I could. Then I slowly turned the crank shaft, watching the lifters themselves. And shining a very bright light on the flywheel so I could see the marks I had put on. When I got one of the marks lined up with the pointer I filed a small notch on the edge of the harmonic balancer in line with a mark on the timing chain cover, until I had three marks 120 degrees apart. I finally figured out which point #1 was in firing position, and adjusted those two valves. I left them a little bit loose, just in case. I went through the whole procedure, then checked it again by rotating the crank through two more full revolutions, and everything looked good.

I think part of what was confusing me was how little movement there is in the valve train. When I watched the lifters come up out of the hole in the block they only raised about 1/2". I guess I was expecting something more dramatic. But it all looks good now, and I will probably run through the procedure one more time before I get to actually trying to run the engine, and tighten them up a bit more.

Thanks to all who helped me with this.

Until the next problem...

Tim

I am currently digging back in to a 1953 3800 (one ton) with a nine foot bed. I've owned it since 1979, and drove it until 1982 (or so). My wife got me involved in restoring it back in 2002, got the body removed and the frame redone, then things came up. Now I am retired and starting again. If anyone is interested I have photos on Imagur ( https://timwhiteblues.imgur.com/ ). I live way back in the woods in the Ozarks on 40 acres at the end of a 2 1/2 mile private road.

Tim