Boy - It's simple. The valve train problem will undoubtedly prove much more complex and costly to resolve before I'm through. Why obsess about the simple and inexpensive when a much grander issue lurks?
By the way, the valve train noise persists. That's why I'm wondering about the roller tips as a possible solution. If they won't work with the spacers - which I now know, I'd like to know if they'll fit with the open face cobra valve covers sans spacers before I go through another zillion dollars in gaskets trying to find out.