Too bad for you.

Looks like your yanking a head off.

 

Pull the heads, get it out, check for damage, replace lifters(LS7 is a good upgrade), add .040 gaskets and now you have gained power

 

well that sucks, oh well guess its time for an upgrade

 

Definitely pull the heads, it'll save you alot of grief in the long run. Better to be safe than sorry trying to patch it with a bandaid and hope for the best. If you're dropping in a new pushrod (assuming it's the same length as stock) and it's dropping lower than the others then there's probably something warped on the head and when you're dropping the pusrod it's not setting correctly on the camshaft. That would be my guess. You don't want to have a piston hit an open valve just because you didn't take the extra couple of hours and inspect your heads. Good luck with the project!