Your best bet is to send it to Terry. At least he's going to be honest. It sounds like the "head" of the engine and not the whole thing. Same thing happened to a Probe I owned. Found out when I tore down the engine that it probably never had an oil change until I owned it at 38k miles. Sludge had blocked up the oil intake. It ticked when it ran like an old VW Bug. Cams/lifters etc were shot for lack of oil pressure. The "block" was good though.
