Thanks all,

I didn't understand how the mechanic could tell if it was the upper or lower end that needed workd-now I do. What I don't want is to have them open up the engine and say 'oops, this is going to be another 3k, sorry!' I'll call the shop today, talk it over with the owner and most likely go ahead and have the work done. 2.5k for a valve job, assuming no valves are shot (most likely one will be!), they also put in a new tensioner. Sound reasonable?

cheers,
dan r.