Opinions sought on odd engine knock

OK. Manual trannie car. Pilot bearing and such seem to be good. (It takes several seconds after the clutch is pushed in for the input shaft, clutch disc, and countergear to spin down to where you can engage the non-synchro 1st gear).

Crank end play: may be. I have tried lightly pushing it in and out with no obvious excess clearance but I use a bit of leverage to really see if it moves excessively.

Yeah, just recently changed out the fuel pump on the chance that it was noisy.... and it WAS. I mean a reeeeeally loud knocking at highway speeds. That has been one of noises eliminated to date.

No I did not check the cam end play with the new chain. But I thought that the cam thrust was set by the cam sprocket on one end; not sure what keeps it from moving forward unless it is just the tappets being centered a bit forward of center on the cam lobes.

Just now I thought of the oil pickup tube.... maybe it is goofed up and hitting the crank....