[Moriarty]

Ugh.. so I finally buttoned everything back up after having taken the head off to inspect the valve. It all looked good, so instead of replacing and lapping a new valve, I decided to roll the dice with the existing one.

I did replace all the springs and seals (and retainers while I was at it). Took it for a test drive yesterday and was noticing slightly louder exhaust note on the passenger side (where the spring broke). Was getting more of a "blat blat blat" than "blub blub blub". I was really hoping for an exhaust leak, since I replaced the exhaust gasket on that side and had taken the pipes off on that side (saw another thread that suggested using some sealer on the four pipes where they connect to the side pipe? I did not do that, and did not see any indication it had been done previously, and am also pretty sure that's not an issue).

Anyway, using a stethoscope I could definitely hear a metal "tap tap tap" coming from the fourth cylinder when I put the probe on the exhaust port while running. Testing again just cycling the engine with the starter, I don't hear any contact, but definitely hear metal sliding against metal.

So.. I'm pretty sure the answer is take the head back off and replace the valve, but thought I'd post here first to see if anyone had anything else I should check first, or while I have the cylinder head back off.