Need your help figuring out what I need to order.

Light valvetrain sounds when cold, but ticking gets loud when engine is warm.
I know the xer lobes are noisy to begin with, but to me, its excessively loud.


Results

#2 and #4 intake = 9.85 turns each ( so 7.2925 inches ) 6.8 + 9.85* 0.05'
#2 and #6 exhaust - 9.7 turns each ( so 7.285 inches) 6.8 + 9.7* 0.05

My questions are:

1. What is the normal amount of preload for a stock ls lifter? I have read everything from 0.03 all the way to 0.1 inch. Most seem to say .08, but I think that is pretty high.

2. Is it normal for the exhaust pushrods to require shorter pushrods?

3. Is there a performance advantage from running a slightly longer pushrod? What about potential problems?

4. What length pushrods should I order? I am thinking 7.375 for the intake and 7.35 for the exhaust. Or should I just order all the same length?


Background: (I bought the vehicle with the following)
5.3l V8,
ported 799 heads ( I don't know if they have been shaved)
TSP Torquer v2 cam (base circle is smaller than stock gm cam)
7.4 inch hardened pushrods
stock rockers with trunion upgrade (I did the upgrade)
.600 valve springs (beehive)
stock 5.3 lifters (I believe)


Procedure:
I hope I did this the proper way.

I used EO, IC method for the intake valves and tdc for the exhaust valves. I took out intake rocker from #2 cylinder. Installed the adjustable pushrod and then torqued the rocker down to 22 ft-lbs (264 inch pounds). I finally got 0 lash at ~ 9.85 turns.

Repeated this for the cylinders listed at the beginning of my thread.

Thanks