Thanks for the tips guys. You are the best.

My business neighbor has an auto shop and he said it would be around $500 for a water pump, timing belt, thermostat, coolant flush, valve cover gasket, front seals and taking a look at the lifters. It's a lot but I have no inclination to be down a truck for however long that would take me to DIY (probably forever). I need it done same day because I get like half a day off per week and I don't need any "jackstand stress."

My other business neighbor has a quick lube. He said the oil was full but black. Then he pulled out a bottle of Rislone and said it works great to clean up ticking lifters. "Mitsubishis all sound like that." So he said he'd do lube and check fluids after the maintenance stuff. I went into the pit to have a look underneath and other than some leaking from the oil pan gasket, everything looks surprisingly good and clean. There's some slop in the steering but I'll do the idler arm rebuild later.