[dfink]

Really don't have much to add except to add 1+ to the first time too loose club. I thought that I had everything set perfect. I adjusted, rechecked, readjusted and thought I had a pretty good feel for the gauges. When I was done my engine was quieter than before but still had some valve noise. I thought well it is better and I double checked so it must just sound this way.
Well after pulling and rebuilding my engine this winter I used a dial indicator to set them at .004". I will let you know that a properly adjusted engine will not make tap, tap, tap sounds.

I will probably get into hot water cause I know this is an established method. My attempts to do the back side method, though more repeatable than the normal way, did not yeild the results I expected. I wanted to use this instead of the dial as I thought it would be faster. After several attempts my results were always the same.
If I used a go gauge of .0025" and a no go gauge of .003" I always got a .003" lash on the dial indicator. According to math the method should yeild a gap closer to optimal. I don't know if others have tested this in practice but those are the results I found. It would be interesting if anyone currently building could also verify the backside method. I did however get a very consistant .003" measurement.