Thanks guys! I know I've never seen one run with valve damage. I saw that hole in the cam cover and figured it was all over, having seen it before. I hated to even start it but I figured what the heck and to my amazement it cranked right up but it did rattle pretty good. That's all I've done so far, I haven't removed anything yet. She said she was going to sell it anyway and will not spend any more money on it. It's got over 200k on it but she's spent some money on it including a chain job at 125k, a trans at 180k and various other repairs including the A/C according to the records. I feel a bit guilty buying it for a couple hundred bucks [her offer to me] but I am