I cut open the oil filter this weekend. no sign of any metal shavings inside at all. Im going to change the lifter & pushrod after the 4th and see what happens

Here is a link to a video of it running. I dont have dual exhaust so i cant tell which side. Ive only had time to remove the passenger side valve cover and i wasnt able to press down any of the pushrods by hand EXCEPT the #1 exhaust.

https://youtu.be/kQQouGLvpFM

one more

New here on the forum. I am the 2nd owner of a 68 f250 with a 390. Bought about 5 years ago. the seller claimed the motor was rebuilt 2000mile prior to my purchase. I have no reason to doubt that based on the appearance and the way it ran. As far as i know it was a stock rebuild, the old man was cheap and mentioned his neighbor who was a mechanic did the rebuild for him......It has a 2barrell carb, i just use it for man road trips and hunting trips. My concern is reliability as when i do drive it, its not unusual to be in the middle of nowhere.

I've put 12,000 miles on it. started to tick a bit and makes a "phoot phoot" noise from exhaust randomly but often at idle. Pulled driver valve cover, #1 exhaust push rod is clearly wobbly....also notice blowby coming out above #3 and #4 cylinders. I can also jiggle that same rocker arm by hand easily. Did a compression test yesterday. Got 180 is all cylinders except for #7 which was 172. I took a photo of the plugs because the oil stain on the passenger side plugs seemed odd.

The motor runs great, just ticks a bit and also has a deeper knock (same cadence as the motor is turning) that the sounds like its coming from the back of the motor somewhere. I've listened all over with a wooden dowel and cannot pinpoint it. I haven't pulled driver side valve cover yet, but plan to replace the bent rod and check the condition of the rocker shaft.

Any comments/advice will be greatly appreciated.