Healthy Head?

Not a good plight… given your lack of information as to what the shop did to the head. Is there any way you can follow up and simply ask them? Sure, they may lie, but it’s better than nothin! But if you can’t get this info (or you don’t trust it!) I’d ask you this. Is the head back on and torqued down or is it just resting on the block? If just resting, I’d do the following to learn some info the shop didn’t share with you. Heck I would even suggest unbolting the head and gasket even if it’s already torqued down. Rent or borrow a valve spring compressor and compress the springs of the two valves that had bent pushrods and remove the keepers, retainers and springs. Now pull off the umbrella seals and smush and roll them between thumb and forefinger. If they crumble, no bueno. They’re old. If they split, same deal. If they’re resilient and pliable, they’ve likely been replaced and you got something other than a rattle can rebuild. Now try to press the valve stem out of the head by hand (head on its side). Are the valves tight? You should be able to, with some minor guide resistance, easily move the valve back and forth without mechanical assistance. Otherwise, the problem that caused the bent pushrods is still there. Could be coked up guides, oil starvation galling, or just a lot of crud. But it needs proper sorting or you’ll be pulling the head again in no time to replace two more bent pushrods. Now don’t get me wrong. If the valves are moving okay in their guides, it doesn’t fully clear up the bent pushrod condition. Your rockers could be partially frozen, although I highly doubt a cruddy rocker could bend a pushrod. It would have to be laying upside down in the muck without a valve cover to get that seized… All signs point to stuck valves here, IMHO. You just need the assurance that the shop addressed the root cause of the problem. If they aren’t forthcoming with info you trust, you need to verify what was done using the process I described above. If the valve assemblies pass with flying colors and the umbrella seals are pliable, that’s good. Reassemble the valves and you can bolt that head back on with much greater confidence. Make sure those keepers are properly seated before releasing the spring tension from the spring compressor. Check neighboring valves for reference. You’ll learn from this experience for sure, but at least you’ll be reasonably assured of success getting this old engine running again. The smoking condition could be stuck rings from sitting. Those may free up with time and use of quality oil and fuel. Good luck, man!