Tony - yeah I did that to try a compression test and did it for leak down. Since the valve was sticking I didn't get much of a reading. However, after tapping the valve I got an appropriate leak down test reading.
Couple of thoughts - the engine has been sitting, and there's little or no
oil that's been pumped back up to the heads so maybe that caused the sticking since I've just been turning it over by hand. Will also check the clearance on the push rods.
WhatsaCobra - thanks for the detailed explanation - it helps to better understand what is going on. To my point above, do you think it could just be lack of
oil on the valve at this point? Maybe I need to prime the
oil system first via the distributor hole and a drill.