[j.fro]

In February I went through this.
Before you pull the engine, rig up a garden hose to the coolant system and back flush the hell out of it to get all of the oil/coolant and pieces of the water pump impeller out.
Set the engine to TDC and put the pin in so it doesn't move. If it's not at TDC when you go to pull the cams, the valve tension may break a cam.
Get the heads off and have a look at the cylinders to determine that there's no cylinder scoring. If you've got scoring, there's no sense fixing the heads. If the cylinders are good, with rebuilt heads you'll have a better engine with no mysteries.
It cost me $2500 from Hoffman Machine in GA to check my heads, repair the crack, repair a couple of broken exhaust studs, do a mild porting job, regrind the valves, and replace the valve springs. ARP head studs were $500; the full gasket kit was another $500 (both from eBay dealers).
That chain rattle you've got is from wear on the vario-cam tensioner pads and plastic chain timing ramps. Replace all of that. From Pelican it will cost you about $350, I think. The tensioners themselves seem pretty indestructible and should be good.
There are a ton of other "while you are in there" items that will run the bill up but are worth doing: AOS, rebuild fuel injectors, rebuild/replace lifters, coils, plugs, plug tubes (the gasket kit has all of the o-rings, etc), water pump, any sensors that seem shot, etc.
I did almost all of the work, but had a knowledgeable buddy set the cam timing. All in, I think I spent about $5K
If you have questions or just need an empathetic shoulder to cry on, PM me. Once it's back together and running perfectly you will quickly forget what a PITA this is.