Just re-read Boston Bob's lifter adjustment procedure. He says
it's good to adjust to .006 on new engines, during assembly, etc.
But, if I have a van with a nice running, several year old engine.
Am I supposed to adjust these the way he describes as "In the
Past", put at .006 until they are all pumped up, then preload them
at a later date? The article didn't explicitly state (or I'm a
Moron and can't read it) that I should do a mid mileage engine the
same as a new engine. It seems to deal mostly with proper bleeding
of lifters and adjusting them in new engines

Are you hearing lifter clatter?  Is everything running fine, or do you think it is running fine? These are tough questions to answer...............if you have what seems to be a good running engine. Have you ever adjusted the valves?  If not, going through his procedure will enable you to be certain that all of your lifters aregood, and indeed, pumped up. Personally I have used this method countless times now, and it works.  After you run at .006 to be certain that things are running well, you "hot" set the valves at Zero lash.  Preload really is not necessary.  I just worked on an old westy this past weekend, and the valves had 2 turns preload and 30 lbs compression on each cylinder.  I had bought the van at a reasonable price for the previous mechanic had diagnosed knocking rod and bad engine (pulley washer in the fan shroud was the knocking rod)....adjusted the valves to .006 and 135 lbs compression.   It very well could be, at best, that you learn more about your car by doing the procedure...........some lifters may be weak, some may be perfect.

Thanks
Myron Lind
81 Westy
82 Diesel getting a new "mechanical TDI"