I haven't checked hot lash yet, but I doubt I'm losing compression here. Primarily because it acted the same way with hyrdraulic lifters, but also because lash has probably not shrunk during break-in, rather increased.

Startup fueling is getting my complete attention now, as is injector flow constant. I'll report back tomorrow once it cools completely.

Trust me - I've read "the gospel" on modified injectors and couldn't agree more, but I ran these injectors enough when the engine was a 5.7L to know they aren't the problem. If anything increasing displacement should have made them less problematic for startup and idle scenarios.

Thanks for your thoughts nonetheless.