Yes Ed that sounds like what I have going on
Well, in my case, I am totally stumped. I hate the idea of just ignoring it and waiting for it to blowup and sitting on the side of the road waiting for my wife to come get me. At the same time I am not ready to tear the engine apart. The engine runs great (better than my 4L SOHC with 40K on it). Full power, good mileage (for a 4L), etc. Once warm it sounds wonderful and runs just great.
It sure as heck does not sound like a valve or lifter. With a dowel, I can hear a light tick at the the exhaust port on #3 and at the exhaust port on # 6 that is in time with the noise. Nothing, however, that sounds like the engine is coming apart. From underneath if is louder; but, with a dowel I cannot isolate it. It does not sound off from the heads or block. The part that is really funny is that it doesn't start right at cold start. It take 30 to 45 seconds to start.
If I had a definite cause, I would open it up and fix it. But, without something to go on I would have to do a complete rebuild on an engine that doesn't use oil, has good power and runs great in all other aspects.
It is driving me nuts. I just don't know what to do (other than just waiting),
Ed