Engine & valve problems

I have a 1985 toyota mr2, i got it from a friend and two weeks after owning it i started to hear a clicking noise as if it was the valves, everything told me it was the valves, i opened the engine up, valves were fine seals were good. closed it up and car was running the same....clicking and bad power loss. the next day i started it to take it to a tech and it shut off, it wont crank, or anything, all the electrical system i checked and cleaned changed plugs wires, not the distributor, wondering if it could just be a bad distributor or something more serious.