Thanks all.
Swap is done, lifter definitely stuck down hard, 100psi (input) did not free it up but a solid wrap on a hunk of wood did make it move. I wanted to get a look at the other lifters and cam lobes so the intake came off, good practice. Outside of fighting to crack valve covers loose, used Permatex black ultra, the stuff is nasty to work with but does not let me down, and arduous clean up of gasket surfaces, did not go too bad overall. Cam lobes, other lifters, dist. gear, rod ends, rockers, etc., all look good. Good news is after shimming the rocker stands over the winter rocker sweep on the valve tips is down to ~0.050".
I still have a light tick somewhere though I have a hard time discerning it from normal engine noise and don't really know what "normal" is anyways, not going to worry about that for now and just get some miles on it, probably set my rev. limit idiot light at 5500 and not delay shifts. I was into the low 6's and either MSD rev. limit had kicked in or the valve train was misbehaving at the end of the run that toasted the lifter so no more rpm's over 6 for a while.
Has anyone ever experienced high rpm's cause so much coolant hydraulic pressure/flow that it bends the flange of the thermostat, has happened twice to me now. The way the thermostat sits in the expansion tank neck the entire diameter of the flange is not pinched between solid surfaces.
Thanks.
