Adjusting valves with a side mounted muffler

My IM has a side mounted muffler and I thought I'd have to take it off to adjust the valves. I put the car up on my scissor hoist, took off the wheel, and to my surprise I was able to get at the valves without having to take off the muffler. The only thing I disconnected was the rubber support strap.



As some of you may remember, I'm having a hot start problem and at highway speeds, on a 90 degree F. day, the engine compartment gets pretty hot. I'm guessing heat sink occurs when I shut the engine off for a few minutes and it causes a fuel vapor lock.
Last weekend I bought a couple of rolls of fuel line heat shield and wrapped as much of the metal fuel lines as I was able to get at. When adjusting the valves I noticed that the rubber gasket strip between the body and engine tin didn't fit tight above the valve covers. In some spots there was a half an inch gap.
I thought, "What the heck, I've got the heat shield wrap," and covered the area above the valve covers, on both sides, with heat shield. Hopefully, it will make some difference (and it doesn't peel way after a couple of hundred miles.