IIRC the older engines would not because they did not have nearly enough valve lift/compression to hit the valves

That’s not the reason that our engines are non-interference, is it? I allways tought it was becuase of how the pistons were made (with the valve dishes)

yeah, possibly, but EA81 and EA71 pistons are flat topped, with no valve dish (although it's not to common for GEARS to jump lol) and yeah, I think that is why they are non-interference, the valve dishes in the pistons.