Have you adjusted the lifters properly? It sounds like they're running at or near the top of their travel if they have to pump up every time the engine is started. The companion cylinder adjustment I recommend works on hydraulics as well as solids- - - - -get a cylinder at its split overlap point and adjust both valves of the companion cylinder to zero lash plus 3/4 turn of the rocker arm nut. I've adjusted thousands of hydraulics that way without a problem, even on radical racing cams.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!