Well I'm done for the night. Can't get back to it till Sunday.

Next move is to pull the cam. If the engine is bad it has to come off anyway. It's about the only thing left that I can think of to do short of opening up the engine. I have new heat shields coming for the injectors and have a new lifter in hand to replace the one I suspect. There is no noise coming off the front of the engine. Air pump and serpentine belt are not the source of the noise.

If it is a bent rod it has only run maybe 20 miles to limp it home so hopefully the engine is not toast.

Again I thank you all for sharing your knowledge. I think the car is worth the time and effort. The body is in great shape and there is not many of these on the road around here. I only have 3K in it so I think even with having to rebuild the engine it's worth it.