Well, my '87 makes a racket when I start, and judging by the noise and
the location of a puddle of oil under the engine, a lifter for cylinder
#3 is toast.

After hours and hours of chewing through Dremel cutoff wheels to get the
exhaust pipe from the Y-pipe to the CAT off so I can work on the thing,
I pull off the left-hand side cover, pry out the charcoal (nee cork)
valve cover gasket (vintage 1987), and remove the rocker arm assembly.

Out eagerly pop the pushrods, some of them slightly bent when I roll
them around in the tubes. OK, time to take them out. Wait, what's this
rusted steel pipe doing in the way?

This pipe has nothing to do with the exhaust, and appears to be a part
of the cooling system, though I can't be sure as the Bentley cooling
system diagram is less clear for the 2.1 than the 1.9 which is what I
used to have. Whatever it is, it lays firmly in place and won't budge.

The Bentley book says that lifters can be removed without engine removal
or major engine disasembly. Surely, the book must account for this pipe
somewhere in the scenario. The answer might be impossible for me or so
easy that I almost feel like a schmuck for asking, but I want to ask
before mangling anything... how do I get these things out?

Thanks!!!!!!
Sam