Denny W- thanks for the quick reply...and by the way, I'm from Rockford and just moved to Madison two years ago..maybe I saw you at Hooter's on Sunday nights?

As far as I know (from what happened before because I haven't investigated the most recent ticking) there were no wear/scar marks on the rocker or pushrod, only scaring would have happened once the sharp edges of the push rod hit the rocker after the pushrod caved in. I'm pretty sure the rockers were adjusted correctly because the same puchrod location has been giving me the problem. I'm not sure what guide-type rockers are, but the heads are pretty much stock and I'm running stock rockers, so I think the heads have guide plates. They are U shaped right? You might be right about having a bad lifter, I've talked to some of my buddys and they also mentioned that. I just thought this website would give me access to a lot of opinions/experience.

Any other thoughts?