Thanks for the replies. Problem is, the rebuilder would give me no satisfaction and then went out of business. It's a long story, but the short of it is that I'm on my own now. This has been a problem for quite a while and I did nothing about it. The car has about 20,000 miles on it since the rebuild, and nothing has failed or come apart. The engine uses no oil, no water, doesn't overheat, and has plenty of power. I've rebuilt the entire drivetrain and done a 3 year restoration on the body, chrome, and interior. Bit I'm still facing the problem of "why all the noise".

The old Johnsons were used. When started from cold there is some audible valve noise (soft ticking). The hotter the engine gets, the louder it gets (loud ticking). Accelerating through the gears sound like a thrashing machine. As the engine temp drops (i.e. after coming down a long grade), the noise lessens. Could it be anything else more sinister? Wrist pins? Would anything else, effected by heat, result in this type of light (as opposed to heavy) noise?

Thanks for your suggestions of checking the clearances which I will do. But, considering the racket the valves (lifters) are making, they must be way off. But, if they're way off, would the engine still run well and idle dead smooth!
Actually, I did pull the intake and check the clearances about a year after the rebuild. That was about 10 years ago. It didn't make any difference!

Thanks,
Pete