i just turned my motor over by hand, and the all the lifters are moving except one. the front left lifter (if you are standing in front of the car looking at the engine) would this cause the back firing(thru carb) and smoking i was having before i broke the motor down? that plug for that cylinder was also completley corroded with crud. how do you remove lifters..? im new to this..

You must pull the intake and distributor out to see the lifters. Then, loosen the rocker arms and remove the pushrods. Then pull out the lifters by hand.

You should note which lifter, pushrod and rocker arm went with each cylinder for correct re-assembly.

i allready broke the motor down and found the lifter not lifting thus my question.....

Sad to say it but it sounds like you lost a cam lobe and lifter, unless it's stuck in the open position and just holding the valve open. Pull the lifter if you can and inspect the bottom and cam lobe.

That is the #1 exhaust lifter.

Lifters don't "stick". That's a myth. If the lifter is not lifting, then most likely, it's because the cam lobe is rolled flat. At the very least, if that's what it is, you'll need another cam and lifters. That will cause the motor to pop back through the carb, because in case it ever manages to get any air/fuel into that cyl, and it ignites, there's nowhere for it to go except back into the intake when the intake valve opens the next time.

To remove that lifter, remove the rocker, pull the push rod out, and lift the lifter out. You'll have to remove all 16 lifters, and the fuel pump push rod, to get the cam out.

Check the bottom of the oil pan carefully for metal shavings. If any are left in the motor, you'll be putting a crank and bearings in it real soon; in fact, there's a good possibility that they're already damaged. It'd be a good idea to pop the front rod cap and main cap off and check them, and tear the motor down and clean it up and re-ring it if you find metal in the bearings or scoring on the crank.