New LS1 Owners - Newbie Tech - New member, engine tick

Hello
Just bought a 1998 Camaro Z/28 bone stock
104k can be seen here
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;jsessionid=OEkzwjiqg0S1tiBEis8RovD?tab= photos&paId=136666867&recnum=&tracktype=usedcc&pageNumber=&numResultsPerPage=&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=&aff=national
very clean i mean the car looks just as nice as my 03 Seville STS with 45k on it
anyways i bought it for 5k expecting to do some work and am looking to start digging in
i already swapped all the fluids and have come here to seek advice
when i bought the car i noticed it and its continued to do it
whenever you start the car at idle its almost completely unnoticeable while at idle
when you give it gas though there is a ticking that comes from what sounds like the passenger side valve cover
ive listened to a bunch of youtube vids as well as made numerous searches here and on google
from what i gather this is either a noisy lifter or a bent pushrod?
im not familiar with pushrods, ive actually always owned northstars and am very good with their DOHC setup but the whole Chevy LS1 is new to me.
im hoping to post up a vid asap but any input in the meantime would be MUCH appreciated.
thank you all!

nice looking car. looks like a good price too.

can you isolate it to the VC area and not maybe the EGR on the header or the headers themselves?

im 90% sure its top end
on the passenger side at that
and its loud when i stick my ear to the intake
with the hood closed its pretty hard to hear unless im on the highway nailing it
its louder ALOT louder when cold and 1st starting
after a 30-45 min drive it isnt nearly as loud but def there

if it turns out to be something major (which i do hope its not) i actually worked him down and paid 5k (plus taxes fees etc) so i think i got a good deal

There is no real way of figuring out the sound online. You need a lot of hands on automotive experience to determine sounds. Even then it is very difficult.

If you personaly don't have that much expererience, try to take it to a very reputable tech(not just a shop).

Most likely it is a valve train noise which comes with most of these V8's.


Good luck. . . . Looks like a nice higher miliage Z.

thank you for your compliment
i actually worked for a Cadillac dealer as a general tech
im very familiar with the Northstar system which i would think is alot more complicated than this
but im very ignorant of the LS1s (i never worked on the V series now i wish i had, then i would have some experience with the LS2/LS6)