stroker blues

Why did the pushrod bend? Uh, ya know, they don't get soft in oil and just squish up. Something bound up, the pushrod was the weak link and it bent. Valve guides too tight? Retainer to guide clearance? Piston to valve clearance? Did we over rev this baby? Did driving it around with the low oil pressure damage something else? 'Cause, "then it got worse untill it wouldn't run hardly at all..." Did excess fuel wash the oil off the rings and score the cylinderwalls?

Cut the oil filter open and check for metal in the element.

I think tearing this completely down and checking everything might be in order, bearings, clearances, gaps, cam timing, pushrod length, rockers and shafts as suggested above, spring installed height and blah, blah, blah.............or not.