Yes the header surfaces were good, and I'm using a Remflex gasket. I did tighten up the header-to-exhaust pipe bolts, they weren't loose but I was able to get them to tighten some more.
Is the tapping/ticking at engine speed, half engine speed, double engine speed..... You may ask how do you tell? At idle I've used a timing light on a spark plug. That is half engine speed.
Excellent suggestion, I'll get to that today. I will also follow someone else's suggestion to move the timing light from wire to wire to see if the tick lines up with one particular cylinder.
