383: nope.. stock rods, rockers, pivots & nuts for '87 & up 350.

More issues & a little history of how I got to this point.
# 1 - a repair shop guy ( I know... don't ask...long story) said that the groove for the valve retainer was "boogered up at the top of the groove and he didn't know why. He suspected a bad lifter, so he replaced it. This was on the #3 exh. (for some reason, he also replaced #5 exh.) then he adjusted valves with engine running. He said "adjusted ticking noise out of it, but it came right back. Unable to keep 'ticking noise' out of engine". He then warned me that I would drop a valve if i didn't rebuild the heads.
At that point, I picked up the truck from the shop and drove it on a short trip... when the rod broke... then towed it home and tore it down...
Now, if y'all have the patience to re-read this whole thing (thread) to see if any of it makes sense, maybe someone can tell me if you think I might really drop a valve.
Gawd... I'm such a noooooooob... this is my first engine rebuild & i was really proud of it... don't want to do further damage.

I really appreciate all your thoughts, so far...