I bought a 1999 honda civic si with a b16a2 in it. It has a lot of aftermarket parts in it. I drive pretty hard every day and I started to hear small tick in the engine, was told that it could be the valves. So I went ahead and adjusted them to spec. .006 for the intake, ad .007 for the exhaust. Now my engine is even worse. It drives just fine, vtec is even better than before, but my engine sounds terrible now. I was told by a friend that it's very well possible that I have after market cam shafts and after market valve springs, if so would it change the specs of the valves and to what?
Side note: I have skunk2 cam gears if that makes a difference, so I'm thinking if they are after market cam shafts that they might be skunk2 stage 1 cams, or stage 2.

 

<p>How do you not know what hardware is in your own motor?</p><p>Mark the distributor's position, and remove it. &nbsp;Check the cam end for markings to try to identify your intake cam. &nbsp;Remove your valve cover, and the rubber cap, to check the exhaust cam for markings to identify it.</p><p>When were your LMAs last serviced?</p>