opinions wanted
 

I put a rebuilt motor in my 75 camaro about 4 years ago and i have only put around 8,000 miles on it.
Well i noticed when i gas my car i have a ticking noise that sounds like it is coming from the drivers side head but only when i am excellerating,during idle no noise.
So i replaced the spark plugs on that side of the engine aand one of the plugs was not like the others.
This one plug was dirty looking with some sort of build up on it.It was not oily and the build up was fairly hard,could remove with fingernail.
So I figure one of two things,a bad lifter or valve burnt.(one other posiiblility would be bad head gasket)
Whats your opinion?
If it is a lifter i would not have to remove the head,only the intake and a rocker.However if it is a valve i am stuck removing the head.
engine runs as normal as it ever has since i put it in.

Or maybe just one rocker arm that needs adjusting. They do loosen occasionally, and not always because a lifter went bad. I'd pull the valve covers and check the rockers to see if any are too loose with both valves closed.

I will pull the cover tonight and check that out,thanks

You could do a compression test and/or a cylinder leakdown test to see if you have valve problems.

Flat tappet or roller cam. Might have a lobe going flat. You need to run oil with some zink in it if its a flat tappet cam. Any 15w-40 diesel oil will still have the additive package you need for a flat tappet cam. If its a roller run what you want for oil because you won't have the wear issue. First check the adjustment on the rockers first and then do a compression check. Let us know whats up.

A leaking exhaust manifold/header gasket has fooled more than one person into thinking they have a noisy lifter. Check to make sure you're hearing what you think you are.
Sure, still could be a cam/lifter/valve issue, or could be that one spark plug that looked different was just a coincidence.

The exhaust gasket like Camaro 69 said is a good place to start looking for that ticking sound. You could also change the plug wire which could be the start of your fouling plug. Do the simple things first, their the least time consuming and less costley to do.

I was going to say the same thing.

Do you notice any loss of power? Cause if it was a burnt valve you would prob feel it.

My money is on the exhaust gasket.

i know this is 12 years later but you were right. leaking at exhaust where butterfly is clamped in. As it got worse it was more obvious it was not a lifter.