Six cylinder valve tap?

[notmycity]

I’m having second thoughts on converting this puppy to V-8 due to escalating fuel costs and some temporary time constraints.

Here’s the situation.......

This 292 six stills runs super strong and gets grrrreat milage (20mpg+), but because of the high miles and less than decent maintenance by its previous owner it taps like many old six’s we’ve all heard. I’m thinkin’ the cost-effective and quickest solution for now is just to replace the cylinder head. Any thoughts please? Thanks...