[jimjaz]

Hey Jon,

I definitely would follow along the advice of Barry. Don't mess with the cam or lifters if you don't see anything WRONG. Sure, take them out of their bores (ONE AT A TIME AND PUT IT BACK IN THE SAME HOLE) so you can get a "feel" for how the cam and bottom side of the lifters look. You could take them all out, but put them in order so they go back into where each one came from. Pushrods? Like Barry says, if they are not damaged on the ends, then leave them alone. I believe these need to go back where they came from also, but I could be dead-wrong on this point.
Chances are you did just blow a head gasket, but doing both heads is a great idea. Just have a shop that you can trust do the heads for you, don't spend any money on something that you don't need, and see about checking the block deck for being FLAT, otherwise your rebuilt heads (which will be machined flat) won't help you in your plight to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again without an issue of leak and possibility of blowing it out all over again. Your block should be OK- these beasts are tough! Where else can you get an 800 pound engine?

Good luck and good fortune (may you keep most of what you have)...