Yup.. that mic sucks... sounds like mad valvetrain chatter. Glad to hear you go it it sorted... as others have said, now go have some fun!
Don't feel bad about bashing the eff outta the headers. I got a nice shiny set of ceramic coated longtubes for my big block Ford... what they looked like...
Nothing wrong with the Petronix, I've used them and as long as they are installed correctly you should not have any issues.
That said... HEI is the way.
MY2C.
I used a set from Mancini Racing that are made by Harland Sharp on my 360 LA with a mild flat tappet cam... no issues whatsoever. Overkill for this broomstick of a cam but they had a sale and I said why not. Hardest part nowadays is getting the correct length push rods. GL!
Lil late, but I like mine... sealed great. Only issue I had was the counterbore was a bit tight for the socket head cap screw hardware that came with it. Just got a slightly longer stainless bolt, split & flat washer... solved. No gasket or RTV to mess with...
I could not get the Moroso to seal either.. even with aluminum heads and cast valve covers.
Ended up using these double stack Felpro cork jobbers with a bit of right stuff...
If it's in the budget.. I'd recommend some QA1 single adjustable. Cannot explain how much better these are than stock shocks... feels like a different car with them on all 4 corners and you can dial them in to your ride preference and style. Liked them so much I put them on all 4 corners of my...