[redmodelt]

Sorry but, without us being there to see whats what, the only suggestion would be to check the total length of the old valves and have the new ones ground to an average length. As long as there is some stem between the spring keepers and end you should be ok. Take the minimum off and still be able to adjust for gap. Depending on how deep the valve sits in the block, you may or may not need to take a little more off. Even with original valve setup, stem grinding was part of getting new valves.
To add to this, not all lifters are the same. I have an set that was short two and found replacements. The two I found are taller then the rest so and to grind the stems to fit those two. That goes to illustrate that there is no magic number to pass on.