Seems to me that there are little oil deflectors that you can buy that clip
over the rockers to keep the oil from going everywhere... Back in high
school a bunch of us had Toyota Corollas with the 1.6 litre pushrod Hemis.
Neat engine, although the valve clearance adjustment procedure was similar
to what you mention for the solid-lifter 289, if you read the Chilton
manual. The Haynes manual, however, outlined the 'cold' adjustment
procedure, where you adjusted half the valves with the engine at TDC1, and
the other half with the engine at TDC4. Even on the most radical camshaft
out there (and I had a couple with over 300 degrees duration, later), the
heel of the cam is broad enough that you can correctly set the clearances
even though you're not 180 degrees away from the highest point on the cam.
The difference in the valve clearance spec between 'hot' and 'cold' was only
.001", if I recall correctly.
The same procedure, adapted to the 289, would get you 16 valve adjustments
for four crankshaft positions, and no burnt fingers or oil splatter.
Good luck,
Theo
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