I can tell you right now that you have bad LMAs. I had a buddy that had this ticking problem that I couldn't pin point, even after a valve adjustment. He was reading up and thought that replacing them would get rid of the ticking. He replaced them and the ticking was gone. I guess it is a common problem with first gen B16s.

If you want to go through the effort to test them, just push them with your finger from every angle and if it isn't smooth at all times, it has rusted out and needs to be replaced. Just pick up a full set of ITR LMAs...they are pretty cheap.