Dave,
I'm not sure, I don't have the engine yet. I'm going to talk to the owner today and maybe go take a look at it. Just seems odd that someone would replace the 848 with a lower compression head. I've been reading some materials on Hydraulic v solids, but if this is a '54 head it should still have hydraulic lifters. According to this article,
http://chev235guy.blogspot.com/2013/06/noisy-235-hydraulic-lifters.html, the problem with the tapping noise may be incorrect installation. Guess if I get it I'll just have to take it in for a rebuild and see.
Joe
