Ticking valvetrain noise from fresh engine

Heads were rebuild at a machine shop, new 2.02 / 1.60 valves were installed, all lined up like they should...

Did you actually CHECK them or are you taking for granted the machine shop did it right? Valve stem height on non adjustable valve train engines is the single most popular mistake machine shops make. It takes time to set up properly and a lot of them simply do the valve job and never measure a thing. It sounds to me like you have eliminated everything else.