truck developed oil leak, tightened valve covers and oil pan ran about 1 1/2 quarts low for about twelve miles at 60 mph, now have ticking noise assumeing lifters, can i tightrn them or valve springs? motor is a 302 1987 178000 miles new bottom end. thanks

 

...don't see why running the engine that little time at that speed would cause any troubles with the oil down 1-1/2 quarts....unless oil pressure failure has occured in which case the trouble may be more than just a noisy valve train.

Before pulling the engine apart try adding about 8oz of STP to the oil and see if the tappet noise goes away.