rocker arm ball misalignment

[jond]

Thanks for all of the excellent replies folks! To answer most of the questions, I am not a hard core engine guy, but have been instructed by an oldtimer with a history of European car support that morphed into ultralights and homebuilts using different types of vw engines. He is eighty now and has been doing this his whole adult life.
The adjustments were done similarly to Monet's video (thanks for the link!) And no zero was dropped or added to the .014 for the exhaust. All swivel feet were properly adjusted with the flat spot oriented correctly and the engine cold. However, one concession I did make to SOP was that I rotated the engine backwards when setting the gaps. Why you ask?! When rotating the engine for forward flight, oil is pressed through the oil line to the valve cover, which isn't there for the tune. So it should oil that I have to clean up. I see no issues with this approach, but perhaps I am missing something that would explain the rotating swivel head misalignment. I'm out to the airport on Friday and will retune by rotating the engine properly, and deal with the small oil leak. Stay tuned for an update!

[vwglenn]

I always adjust my valves on my VWs using the "idiot" method which starts with #1 @ TDC and goes backward in reverse firing order. Turning the engine backwards has never been an issue and makes no difference in a mechanical lifter.

Still no clue why this large gap is needed.