I did some research on a bunch of forums and it seems I may have a bad rod bearing? That would create a loud knocking sound even at idle right? I read I can just drain the oil and look for metal pieces in the oil right?

Also, when I pull the head, other than the smoke, I notice the head is pretty clean (meaning, it doesn't seem to have a lot of oil in it)... Could my oil pump be failing? Could I have a plug somewhere? Would that cause the extreme smoke coming from the head when I pull the valve cover? The oil pan shows plenty of oil. However, my dash shows the oil light when the motor is on.

If I had a bad rod bearing, I would still get good compression numbers right? A bent valve would show in the compression numbers, but a bad rod bearing wouldn't I think, making me believe the head is fine.

Can I drive it around with a bad rod bearing? I plan on getting a b20 very soon (2 weeks) anyway. If something does happen, the most that would go is the short block right? It wouldn't damage the head right?

Crappy sound recording of my motor.

Anyone have any clue?