With modern no-lead fuel, and crappy metal valve seats, checking and adjusting the valves lash has become real important on the air cooled. I don't use one regularly but I have a Manx style buggy that we use at the lake house to get around. I have a 1835 with dual port heads, and I'm careful to adjust the valves every year(maybe 1500 miles?).
There's another option called swivel ball foot adjusters. Fairly cheap upgrade, and the adjustment is a bit tighter so that it doesn't clatter, and change geometry quite as much.
You may have burned a valve if they got too tight and kept driving. This will show up quickly in reduced compression. Thankfully, it's a fairly quick fix. If you want to test, get a leakdown compression tester, and set it for 80PSI on a warm engine. Do the leakdown, and listen where the air is coming from. Typically in the exhaust but can also be the intake. Pull the head, have it reworked, and insist on heat treated seats, and new guides. The guides without lead in the fuel tend to hog out, and of course this also causes seat and valve face wear.
Good luck. If you don't want to do the fancy leakdown, you can use an air compressor with a rubber nozzle on it, and apply pressure to the plug hole.
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Today's Featured Article - Restoration Story: Fordson Major - by Anthony West. George bought his Fordson Major from a an implement sale about 18 years ago for £200.00 (UK). There is no known history regarding its origins or what service it had done, but the following work was undertaken alone to bring it up to show standard. From the engine number, it was found that this Major was produced late 1946. It was almost complete but had various parts that would definitely need replacing.
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