Russ: In a way I agree with you. If you grind the valves you increase the volume of the combustion chamber. Most diesel engines have a tollerance of only 15 to 20 thousands for valve protrussion or recession. Most of these older Oliver diesels had had the valves ground at least once and maybe twice so they are not in spec to start with any more. New valves while a good idea may not correct the problem. A set of both intake and exhaust seats installed to get the right protrusion will definately improve the starting. Another thing to watch for is when you recondition the rods and you hone the big end and then the small end you may loose your piston height and 0.005 loss of piston heigth makes for a sizeable loss of compression.Then again how many guys have a diesel compression tester let alone and adapter to  fit the Oliver. If you have a lot of grey/ white smoke when starting you are short on compression.