I found an alternative to the hard-to-find J-42689 tool that worked for me.
Valve Lash Adjustment Tool Set
J-39871-1 Kent Moore (depressor)
J-39871-2 Kent Moore (spacer)
Purchased for $18 on eBay. The spacer's shape looked similar to J-42689, so I took a chance to see if it would work. I was able to access all shims easily.
(There were some occasions when I didn't have enough room on the intake side to turn the depressor all the way to depress the tappet enough for the spacer to slip in. I didn't remove some nearby outer hardware next to the cylinder head, which ended up blocking the handle sometimes. For this, instead of using the depressor, I turned the main crankshaft pulley until the cam lobe depressed the tappet, then slid in the spacer, held the spacer in place while I turned the crankshaft pulley until the cam lobe was off. From there, did as usual, which is find the notch in the tappet's rim, use a flat head screwdriver to pry up the shim, and remove shim with a magnet.)
For those in need, I hope this helps.