Looking for help in Minnesota

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How about yourself? Most of us do our own work. This would be a great learning experience for you if your new to the hobby. People will help you on here and YouTube has videos of just about any mechanical task you would want to do.
 
Yeah.
the water pump and thermostat looks like I might be able to do this.
but I took the top of the valve cover off and one of the rockets was really loose. It was tightened down as well as all the others.
I took it off as well as the one next to it. On the same cylinder. The rods were both perfectly straight. And the ends were perfectly round.
But when I put the rod back down the hole of the one that was loose, it kinda felt like there was a divot or low spot on the bottom part. I assume a lobe on the cam I guess.
So I’m not able to pull the engine

that’s what I am looking for
Help with the engine.
Thanks for giving me the confidence to try this myself though. I’ll definitely tear the water pump and thermostat out.
 
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Sounds like you have a cam lobe that has gone flat. If the rocker doesn't open and close the same amount (disconnect the coil before you crank) as the others, the cam lobe is flat. This is common on hydraulic flat tappet cams that have some miles on them, or weren't broke in correctly. Did the motor register oil pressure when you ran the engine? If so, You can take the ultra cheap approach and change out the cam, it will probably run okay. This isn't what I would do, and many will disagree with me, but you stated you didn't want to pull the engine. However at a minimum, I would slap the valve covers back on, drain the existing oil, change the filter, add new parts house (O'Reilly's, Autozone, etc.) 10W-30 and Sea Foam to the engine and run for 20 minutes, prior to pulling the camshaft and replacing. This will flush out the motor of existing material from the cam failure, but it won't undue existing damage. The cam shaft change with the motor in the car isn't overly difficult, just time consuming, and you can find a fox body cam change (in-car) all day long on UTube. Let us know what you decide and you can get cam change recommendations for your existing combo.
 
Lots of helpful information here.