OK, the noise is making a little more sense to me now. Dont worry, you're explaining it as well as anyone could. Im probably not gonna make any friends here, and I'll apologize now...but why in the world would someone replace the lifters without replacing the cam? They wear together, and to do one without the other is just asking for trouble. And the lifters being tight in the bore is bad news. If they dont spin freely in the bores, there are problems right from the get go...and the problems start right away, not later on...I mean like seconds into the start-up. You cant tell if a lifter is dished by looking at it...I mean, you can if it's bad enough, but it can still be no good, and you'll never tell by sight. Always, always do cam and lifters together...they say you can use new lifters with an old cam, but I personally have not had good luck doing that. For the cost of a cam, around 100 bucks, it's not worth the risk. When you weigh that cost against having to pull the engine back apart because of all the chewed up metal floating around and ruining all the bearings and your hard work, it's a pretty cheap deal. Good luck on your findings, maybe it wont be too bad. And good deal on re-doing the intake, I think that might be your problem with the stalling. Keep us posted, and again, Im sorry if I offended you or your husband. That wasnt my intent.