I forgot to mention in the original post but I changed the oil when it first started ticking and the oil that looked perfectly fine, no sludge or anything. Only thing is the old oil filter I took off was a brand Ive never heard of before, and I'm guessing it was your bargain basement filter. Some brand called "Federalists Automotive" doesn't even come up with a google search lol. When I changed it I put a K&N filter on along with full synthetic mobil 1 5w-30. And since its supercharged I'm guessing its seen full synthetic almost its whole life.
Im pretty certain the previous owners took good care of the car, as in they have kept up with oil changes and such. I've known them for a little while, only thing is I know it was driven really hard. Could the lifters really start going bad on an engine with 130k miles?