Can't find misfire

AJ/FormS said

Before you pull the head. try opening up the exhausts. Its worth a shot.
And while the cover is off check the spring pressures. If the valves have receded far enough maybe theres not enough seat pressure to keep the valves closed at idle.Since its fine under load and rpm the valves are not yet burned. Perhaps you can shim the springs up and get another few years out of her.

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Never heard of such a thing, but why not? How would I go about checking the pressure and how/what would I use to shim the valves? I'm good with engines, but (even though it really doesn't matter) most of my knowledge is with Chevy. Everything I've worked on has had hydraulic lifters, so someone's stupidity really can't mess something up like this. Since it seems like I can't get valves for this engine, I may end up just replacing the head since I can get it for $267 before tax instead of $296 because of my employee discount. Either way, I would like this car to be a driver and I would like to be able to roll the odometer over again. Right now I'm showing about 1500 miles and I'd like to see it do that again. Thank you for your help.