Called Strange (US Gear) this morning just to touch base. The last photos he said are way off (0.032" shims). He said def do not run that pattern.
He took a look at my first photos (the one exactly to the CD of 1.016" pinion depth) and said its REALLY close. He would consider adding a 0.005" shim and adjusting backlash again. I explained that I had done so all the way up to a 0.040" shim (trying backlashes from 0.008" all the way to 0.015" (which is out of spec)......just to see what effect it would have. Nothing looked as "solid" as the first photos (even though they looked a bit to low on the tooth on the drive side).
He said to take it for a drive, only a few miles and listen for any noise. As the gear set does not need a break in (Lightning series gears are manufactured so they do not need break in), if its going to make noise, it will do it right away. if it does, then add 0.005" shim, adjust backlash and try again. He said they way it looks now (0.015" shim), is the way competitive racers set them up for a mechanical advantage (low on the gear tooth).
Either way, running it at this point is the only way to test.