So here is where I am... I paid the cash, brought the car home and it's stange. It sounds like the early sounds of bearing ware, sometimes. Thats whats strange is that it seems to come and go. At times it sounds like a tick and sometimes it sounds like a low deep knock. A lot of the time it's not even there. It almost sounds to be coming from dead center of the motor. I removed plug wires one at a time and no change. Something is going on, but it's not so loud that I am afraid to drive it. What really threw me was when the car is hot and I shut it off, I can hear a slow tapping in/under one of the valve covers??? I have never heard anything like. Nothing it moving at that point, WTF coould be tapping? I had a local engine builder out who builds race cars and he had a lot of theries, but even he was puzzled. I guess Im just going to baby the car and see what happens. I dont beat on the car anyway, just cruise.