I ended up pulling it out from the top. The bottom of the lifter is not flat like all of the other lifters..it is somewhat rounded inwards. I could not visually see, or tell by the touch of my finger if the cam lobe is worn...When i replaced the rounded lifter with a flat lifter, it went up higher and did not sit down in the bore. After cranking the engine over, i measured how high this lifter was rising compared to others..it was about 1/32" lower than all of the others..is this bad? Is there any other way to check the lobe without pulling the cam out?

Thanks for all of your help.