wrote:


> Let me tell you - it is not rocker noise that we here; it is somewhere
> in between rod knock (loud) and rocker noise (soft and clicky). With
> the motor running, if I back off the #5 exhaust rocker until the valve
> is not being depressed at all, the noise almost completely goes away.
>

I wonder if in the process of pounding that piece of valve around, the
#5 piston hurt itself. Cracked maybe? Or egged out the wrist-pin hole.
Bent the #5 connecting rod slightly?

When you back off the valve on #5, you're basically shutting down that
piston so its not getting combustion loading. See if the sound goes away
when you just pull the #5 spark plug wire. I'll bet it does....