I bought this car from a friend

I bought this car from a friend. It was running fine but had been sitting for almost a year before I started it up. It had a mild ticking sound (lifters) so my friends "mechanic guy" changed out the lifters without telling me first. Now he says the valves need to be aligned before starting it up again. Aren't the valves self alinging in this model? And if he did something wrong in installing the lifters, can it cause major damage to start it up and see if its already alingined?