alright, i went back and tightened all my rockers and the ticking is still there. im starting to think its not the rockers. what else could it be? maybe the smog pump?

could it be pre-detonation? im running 14* advance with 89 octane and a compression ratio of about 9.6:1

also, just starting tonight, my check oil light is coming on. i just put new mobil 1 in 2 days ago...what gives? im not burning it and if i was i sure as hell couldnt burn that much in 2 days.

 

14º on 89 octane?!
Your balancer is either slipping or that's your ticking...
Back off a bit or use 91+
and you sure its not leaking out somewhere?
Rear main seal go?

 

SMOG PUMP?

 

so 14* is too much for 89?

its not actually 89..its a mix of 87 and 91 i have in there....
wednesday ill have my air/fuel gauge up and running (knock on wood) and i can check for that. just recently i did the afr's, roller rockers, pushrods, 24#ers, and a 3/8" heat spacer so im sure my air/fuel is way off.....could this be a factor?

 

where is the ticking coming from? how is your oil presure? sounds like you have a rod not being lubed blocked flow. If the clicking is coming froma valve cover try to find what valve and chamber it is. could be the oil seal is leaking air and dropping your oil presure to the rods and rocker arms.

 

And by the way Octane should not matter these engines are designed for the unleaded fuels. Oil lights also come on when car is in need of a oil change and have to be resent manually sometimes

 

what does the oil dip stick say?

 

i put oil in and its fine and the light is gone...

there is still a noise though....the valves are tight but am unsure if the noise is coming from the valve train. i use 100psi of compressed air and a blowgun to make sure all the push rods where clean. the sound is defenitely coming from the passenger side.

my oil pressure is what it always is so its not that. as the rpms go up so does the pressure. i had the covers off yesterday....would i have noticed anything unusual if a rod was clogged?

oh ya, today when i drove to school the noise didnt show up till after the car warmed up. then when i got to school, put it in park and the sound went away....
im still at school so havent driven it home to see if it does the same

 

well then you may have an oil pump going or a partail clog screen..put a real mech oil pressure gauge in the car

 

why would this start now of all times? i mean the noise started right after the heads went in.