Any Pontiac guys on here? Need insight.

Curious of why the old lifters were like that. Were they trying to restrict oil to the top end?
Who knows.
Engine builder probably ordered lifters, that what showed up, threw them in there. Why didn't engine builder run oil pump with drill and verify oiling before intake bolted on is beyond me. All kinds of problems can be caught fixed corrected by checking verifying. But no, its hey lets be dumb and lazy slap it together send it out the door. Engine builder never heard there was a problem so apparently it all worked out for them.