Impact of [solid lifter] intake valve clearance on starting?

[fspGTD]

Hey guys,

According to the SAE papers, varying the intake valve closing timing effects low-RPM compression and therefore cold starting.  And that is why VW engineers closed the intake valves as early as they did - to increase starting cranking speed compression.

On my recently rebuilt head, I had the intake valve clearances blueprinted to the tight end of the spec (.006"), which should make the intake valve open a little bit earlier and close a little bit later.  Now the engine is really hard to start in the cold.  Although it was kind of hard to start in the cold before the new head, and the starting system (battery cables / starter motor) probably needs some work, and I am also using a miniature battery, it seems like it's significantly harder to start in the cold now.  Also when I installed this new head with tight valves, I changed the glow plug system from the quick glow back to the original slow glow system, and it is working properly.  I believe I should be able to make the system work reliably with the miniature battery if I got good cables and a blueprinted or high output starter.  The head gasket thickness is appropriate (1 notcher.)  I'm wondering if it's likely that the tighter intake valve clearances are contributing to my cold starting problem.

Anyone have any experiences with varying the intake valve clearances on their solid lifter diesels and noticing a change in how readily the engine starts in the cold?  For example, have you run an engine with very tight valves before that started well, then adjusted the valves looser and noticed then that it didn't start as easily as before?

I'm wondering if you changed intake valve clearances from the middle or loose end of the spec to the tight end of the spec, how noticeable cold starting ability would be impacted.  Thanks for relaying any experiences.