sr20det ticking...rocker arms?

[bl3ujay07]

I have been posting for a while trying to figure out what the problem was. I tried some advices given and one was to remove oil pan and clean the pick and filter thingy.

Got the oil pan out and found a shim(???) on the bottom of the oil pan. My brother said its one of the shim from the rocker arms because before he sold me the motor, he had to get a new shim for the rocker arm because one/some fell out and he replaced them. Also, the pick is clean, i have picture of the dent on the oil pan, small(???) dents, and a small metal piece also found in the oil pan. I opened up the valve cover last time but didnt really check out the rocker arms. Will open the valve cover again tomorrow to check the rocker arms.

You guys think rocker arms could be the problem for ticking? Also, noob question, i know you will mess up the specs, but is it ok to micropolish the camshaft (hks step 1)?

Here are some pics.