Bill
I think I am just going to order a set of 8.35 bottom of cup measured pushrods and send them to you to test fit.  Keep them if they work, return them if they don't.  No money involved.  I know I can eventually use them if they don't fit - and they'll tell you whether that size is correct or not.

Don't know if the owner is being lied to - or lies all by himself.  But those numbers go into the same basket as the mythical 450HP bolt together 390 from Hot Rod many years ago.  Stuff like this make my task a lot tougher since I can't make real power to match the published fraud numbers.

Absolutely correct.  Dan Swain became something of a friend a while after I had contracted him to do the bearing coatings for Federal-Mogul.  Started out stating that nobody could duplicate his material and technique. 

He was kinda stunned when I was able to provide him with full analysis of his proprietary coating sample, both in terms of deposition thickness, adhesion quality and chemical makeup.  After letting him catch his breath I explained that F-M had a SEM on site and that another personal friend of mine was involved in NASA and aerospace coating evaluation.  Between the two I was able to get a decent grasp on things - even with my very limited knowledge.  And that I had absolutely zero interest in duplicating his efforts even if I could (I can't even come within a country mile).

He always delivered exactly what was asked of him, on time, and on target for both quality and cost.  And he is one heck of a nice guy too.  He is not directly involved in the day to day aspects of the business these days, although I saw him a PRI a year or two ago.

Super tip!
Really helpful when setting up a 2x4 linkage where you need to go to WOT about a hundred times!

There is a lot to be gained from a better valve job and bowl work.  The Edelbrock valve job is rudimentarty at best.