I torqued the front rockers to spec and almost all of the noise is gone, but when I got to the back side-horror story. Just as I feared #3 rocker was laying in there near #1, and the one beside it was working loose. BINGO-here is the culprit. But oddly the push rods for these two rockers are just not there, I believe the last "mechanic" that worked on it at his "shop" decided to just leave them out when he stripped the rocker bolts, then called the owner and said here's your car.
I don't understand how it was running so smooth at higher rpm and not making worse noise. In fact, I don't even see how it is possible that the engine is still alive, but it is. I'll post some pics shortly, I have the upper manifold off and I'm working down to the lower now. Is it possible to re-use the lower manifold gaskets since it just had heads put on it a few months ago? What about the bolts, aren't they single use? 80$ for the gaskets without the bolts.
Jeez.