Motor back together - strange noise????

[DZEE'S LX]

OK, took it for a drive and......the noise is still there.

Here is what I know now.

1. If I had never seen this car before and listened to the motor I'd say "that dude has a header leak". But because it is my car and I just finished installing everything I can't figure out where it is coming from. Everything is tight and has new gaskets.

2. I now know the noise is there only under acceleration. Especially at lower rpm's when feeding lots of throttle. It's a very loud ticking and has a steady "rhythm" that matches the motor speed. Can hear it even cruising on the freeway. When coasting or at steady throttle the noise dissappears. The engine sounds great on full acceleration but I can still barely hear the noise over the roar The rhythm is still kind of "sporadic at idle. I will try feel for leaks again when the motor is cold. I figure I can tape my clutch fan to the shroud to keep it from freewheeling a breeze. It's also supposed to be about 20 degrees in the morning so maybe I'll be able to see the exhaust if it is leaking somewhere. Is there any other way to check for leaks?

3. I'm not convinced that something is still not right because torque seems very low - at least compared to what I expected to gain over stock. I chose the street intake and shortie headers so I could keep decent low end, even though the e-cam is not supposed to be torquey but still it is supposed to be a good compromise. I guess I just expected the torque to be adequate but it seems barely better than stock. I tested it on a nearby gradeat about 2000rpm. I was able to slowly increase speed in fourth gear where my stock setup would just pull the hill without losing speed. Top end is much more impressive but I'm wondering if that all there is or if something is not set up right. TFS told me I should get 340 hp with this combo and the e-cam. Although I'm no expert, I just expected more. Without clutch it will bust em loose anywhere in 1st gear but I thought I should get similar action in 2nd. In 2nd it will slam my head back anytime after 3000 but it seems like it takes too long to get through the low end if you get on it down low. Maybe this is just my transformation from stock torque to mid-to-high end performance power.......

So I'm not happy yet, still have the noise and not sure if I'm getting all the ponies I should.

Any ideas?


Dan