hemi down.
as soon as i got her going, another hiccup. started running like crap on the way home from a drive, missing on at least one it felt like, but intermittently. by the time i got home, a steady miss on cylinder one....

checked plugs, ignition, wires, and oh, had lifter noise again. it didn't seem like a slightly out of adjustment lifter could cause this, but i had no other ideas, so off comes the valve cover.....

everything seemed right, zero lash on all holes at tdc. then, i pushed on the exhaust rocker on number one, and it compressed over a 1/4"! it felt like the lifter didn't/wouldn't pump up, and hold oil....

i managed to get the pair of roller rockers out of the head hole with a magnet probe. (wonder if i can get the new pair back in! sure would be nice to not have to tear the top of the engine off). i found a teeny tiny piece of rtv stuck in the oil feed hole. since i have chased this rear main leak so many times, and the engine has been out and apart several times, i must have missed a piece, and somehow it made it past the filter.....

anyway, it appears it got plugged, ran dry, and beat it self up, breaking the valving plate in the lifter, rendering is useless, and not really opening the exhaust valve......

well, at least i figured it out, and hopefully i can get it sorted out quickly......