valve tick and a squeek on new l31 heads

[twich3136]

so i just got this thing assembled
010 block
kb pistons
cant remember the cam but 440/420 lift
l31 vortec heads .475 max lift from jegs
lunati 1.5 roller rockers
edelbrock performer rpm vortec intake
1405 carb
ram horn headers
machine shop set up .004 quench
timing is spot on with a stock engine
high flow oil pump

so while my brother was breaking in the cam ( 2000 rpm for 20 minutes is what the shop told us to do) a random tick started happening. shut it down and pulled the covers, rotating by hand could not notice any of the valves behaving badly. started it up without the covers and could not notice and sticking valves. then a squeek sound happened. shut the engine off and now its time to figure out whats going on.
my brother is going to do a compression test after work in the morning to narrow down the cylinder in question. we think its the passenger side only. and this tick only happens at higher rpm. idle is spot on with no weird noises and smooth as can be.
some things that i think might be the problem
-we didnt soak the lifters and its an injured lifter
-timing is slightly off and the valve is bent
-exhaust leak
-defective head from jegs
-calculations were wrong and the cam is too big
-the squeed came from a roller rocker
-voodoo magic and curses

if anyone could throw some pennies at me that would be awesome. need advice and maybe an adult.

[twich3136]

Heres some pictures

[cableguy0]

I can help scratch a few things off your list. Every major cam manufacturer advises AGAINST soaking lifters. Its not necessary and will actually screw up making a proper valve adjustment because you cant properly set pre-load if the lifter is full of oil. Timing being slightly off wont bend a valve. The only way to bend of a valve is to hydro-lock the engine or have a piston hit the valve. You would have noticed if either one of those happened. There are other causes but generally its catastrophic and your post would read much differently. Your cam lift wouldn't cause an issue even with dead stock vortecs and as a matter of fact is fairly small. Were the rings set properly. Keith Black pistons are incredibly finicky about ring gap and will snap the ring lands off if gap isn't exactly right. I wouldn't use a Kb Hypereutectic piston in a lawnmower. Any chance you can get the noise on video and post it here? The oil pump or distributor could be squeaking. You could have a poly lock contacting a rocker. Tons of things. How loud is the noise?

[twich3136]

ill see about posting a video tomorrow when i get a chance. hopefully kb doesnt screw my pooch. i had the machine shop gap the rings before i got it back. going to try to find a bore scope for rent and peak into the cylinders if the compression test comes out weird.

[cableguy0]

You can probably buy a borescope cheaper than you can rent one.Check Harbor freight and Amaon.com. no clue on quality but here are a bunch of options. Amazon Best Sellers: Best Borescopes

[twich3136]

My brother pulled the valve covers off and took a straight edge to the tops of the valves and they all looked straight. However #2 cylinder intake valve rocker had some wear on it. With full roller rockers is it neccesary to get taller valve covers? Maybe thats where the sound was coming from. He hasnt tested compression yet. Thatll happen later today and i asked for a picture of the rocker.

[Tom]

A: I agree on KB pistons sucking and B: yes you are supposed to run taller covers with full rollers. I'd be pulling the lifters and checking the cam though myself, I've had what I thought was a header leak [tick tick tick] that ended up being a cam lobe going bad. Did you run break in oil or use a break in additive in the oil? If not that's a problem.

[twich3136]

I am using joe gibbs break in oil. 5w30. And a flat tappet break in lube on the cam. I am betting the sounds we heard was the lifters. But were going to double check everything in the valve train again just to be safe.

[twich3136]

so i dont have a picture yet but the #2 intake valve rocker became misaligned at some point and realigned. could that be from the valve sticking and slack being generated between cam and valve?

[cableguy0]

I have seen guys not seat the pushrod in the cup of the rocker and do that. Usually though so long as the valves were adjusted properly it wont happen without something breaking.

[Captainfab]

Are you running the correct guided/self-aligning rockers?