Replaced the passenger side header gasket with another SCE copper gasket today but the results were not as good as I hoped. It was evident I had gasket leaks on the old gasket as there were carbon tracks somewhere on all 4 cylinders. Each rolled bead had a low place in the same corner that leaked but #1 cyl looked to be leaking around the entire gasket. I sanded the bead lightly on the new gasket with a block to be sure it was all even (had the same low point in the bead on each cyl) and also around the port on the engine side and installed. But - still have some intermittent light ticking - although now the passenger side doesn't seem to be any louder than the driver side. So - pretty inconclusive.
Could be a collector slip fit joint although I sealed them with liberal amounts of sealer - and I have bolt tabs on all 4 exhaust header pipes on both sides so there isn't any movement at all. Or maybe a rocker arm or something.
