Help diagnosing 5.3 noise

[mountie]

Is there an ignition-like "miss fire"??

A pully tensioner or pully bearing? ( Since the only indication you have is a push rod? That is not bent??)
((( Noise can echo)))
Engine running...... Go around and use fingers for any vibration??? Carefully??

I don't remember.... Does knocking sound speed up ( or get louder) with RPMs?

 

[Larryjb]

When I took my heads to the machine shop, the machinist showed me how the lifters should roll on the roller lifters easily. You can also look at the cam lobes after removing the lifters and inspect for any scoring or damage.

Any broken springs in the heads? Also, I saw a guy who showed how to check for piston slap. Basically he tried wriggling the piston tops when each piston was at the top of the cylinder. In his demo, you could hear the piston click as he wriggled it.