["QUICK-SILVER"]

Do the oil and filter inspection.

If you pull the engine (and I would) Drop the pan and windage tray before you flip the engine over.

Take pictures to document what you find.

Inspect for anything that could be bumping/rubbing/touching with the crank and rods. Check crank end play.

If the engine needs/has to go back....Sending pump and distributor is just delaying the inevitable.

If you find more flakes and metalic looking gunk AND the filter bypass is still functional....Chances are the stuff has been pumped through eveything in the engine. Tiny stuff will damage bearings and mess up hydraulic lifters making the plungers not hold. Valve train parts, including lifters, have done been changed trying to stop the tapping noises you can hear from the top. If gunk is getting pumped through the oil...replacement lifters would tap like the originals.

Still thinking what you can hear from the top ain't the same as what you hear from the bottom. Two different things going on and one may be causing the other.

Some more inspecting needed done first time the pan was off. If Paul doesn't see stuff in pics, post and ask here.

Clay