We bought the sons truck non-running and knew we were taking our chances. No biggie deal, I wasn't scared!
The PO had mentioned that when he stopped driving it that it had a lifter tick.
After pulling the valve cover, we got a little surprise. I think his lifter tick was more like a miss.
Only on push rod is bent and only three pedestals are raised.

My question is, how do you push them back down?

 

Maybe have them pressed down and pinned, otherwise pull them and have new studs pressed in. Or pull, drill, and tap for screw-in studs. Or a different head.

 

That sort of abuse/neglect tells me two things: you need to pull the head and have the studs pulled and bosses tapped for ARP sbc studs. I think it will run $50 for the machine shop to do it. Install the new studs with loc tite. They go into the coolant. Secondly, that sort of neglect shouts that the rest of the head needs to be checked. Are the springs properly installed? Do they have the required psi? How old are the locks, the retainers, springs? How do the valve guides look, the seals? I would definately go through it. In my experience it is always better to address an issue before it breaks and causes a break down.Good luck.

 

Some great advice from these two. Doesn't look like something you want to just tidy up and run it. Good luck.