I have a 1st gen b16a and it does slightly tick, although the problem your describing seems a bit out of the norm. My friend had an identical setup, but his head ticked liked crazy, and I'm talkin loud. I can't offer any real good advice on what to do, but it seems like a normal thing that can happen from time to time, but I did hear someone mention lost motion assemblies once on here in another thread. OH, but don't use anything less than premium fuel(91 or higher) if your engine is jdm. That's what's recommended for our engines, and that's what u should use, and actually, I read that 95 octane is what's recommended for jdm b16as. For some cars that require premium, anything less can cause engine knocking, pinging and ticking, so that could definitely be your problem.
To check your CEL code, look under your passenger side carpet at the window on the ecu. The red led should be blinking. Post up the pattern and I'll tell u what the code indicates.