lifter tick wtf does it really sound like?
 

ok so after my engine is cooled (30-45+) min of no driving when i turn it on and start in 1st gear i get this nasty loud deep sound. At first I thought maybe the DP (2.5" Tony DP one peice) was tapping the bell housing then i thought HLA Tick cept i dunno what it sounds like then hrm pinging or argh I dont like the sound and tryin to figure out WTF it is!

Have someone start the car for you, have a screwdriver held up to the valve cover, with your thumb over the end, and put your ear to your thumb at the end of the screwdriver. Chances are, if the noise is coming from the inside the valve cover, then that is lifter noise. Just make sure you are by your engine when it starts and when the engine starts making that noise. Usually it sounds just like that, a click that varies with rpm due to it following the motion of the cam.

The sound of the turbotonyDP rattle and lifter tick are quite different. For one, lifter tick is a much higher pitch, that can best be type-described IMO as taking a pen or some small object and tapping on a table really fast. It will vary as said above, with your RPM. The rattle from the DP is pretty much awful. Only description I can come up with is.. solid steel (pipe).. hitting solid steel (k member) really fast and obnoxiously. Generally this will occur at extremely low, or very high RPM. I currently have this rattle, as do most people I've spoken to that have the turbotony DP.

Lifter tick is also very RPM dependant. Just reving the engine a couple 1000 rpm will change the sound of the tick and make it pretty obvious against the background noise of the engine.