Wanted to follow up on this for posterity.
First, finding some place to do this was a chore. Now that I have a place to do it, we are making headway.
Knowing that there’s metal in the oil, I started the teardown with the end goal of pulling the engine. I went right in and started removing exhaust, PS pump, water pump, alternator and a/c compressor. The a/c was the most trouble- there are more bolts holding that bracket on that you’d imagine.
Here’s the engine ready to come out with a Motion race works LS lift plate in place of the intake manifold.
Here you can see that the lift wouldn’t reach the engine. It was way off from the side. From the front it was closer but still couldn’t reach.
I eventually had to take the bumper cover off and even then do some shenanigans to make it reach. Here it is out of the bay with the harnesses and a/c pulled back.
With the engine on the stand (not pictured, but also a pain the butt) I dove into it.
Plugs look good.
Valve springs, rockers and push rods all look good.
Houston- we have a problem
This rocker won’t budge. It will spin ~45 degrees but doesn’t move in or out. Something’s wrong… whatever it is- it chewed up the cam.
I’m assuming that’s the source of the metal in the oil. Probably didn’t spin a bearing, but hits highly likely they’re all toast with particulate being forced through the oil.