Update: so, I took an hour or two this afternoon, pulled the rocker arms, all the push rods looked fine. Took off the oil pan - no thrust bearings in the bottom. whew! Everything looked good and was rapidly realizing I was beyond my depth. Called Mark, he's on the road but can come tomorrow. Went back out to the car and looked again. Hmmm. I wonder if this would have anything to do with that hole in the manifold? I think maybe. One of the plug bolts that had something to do with the pollution stuff had fallen out. Fortunately this all happened in the driveway so the bolt was lying on the manifold. Will button it all back up tonight if I am home in time but, I'm 99% sure that is what it is. Will keep you posted. The moral of the story: simple things first and use your eyes too.
cheers!