Engine knocking..., I'm going to snap!! Options

[LowGT]

Okay, I bought this car a year ago to fix up and drive. I didn't expect things to take this long, which is okay. Murphy's Law I suppose.

The first engine was a mess, so I took it out and replaced head seals and all rubber seals. Afterwards it ran great, leaked like a sieve, and I found I had two stripped out plug threads.

I decided to get a used engine instead of mess with that one. I found one with a little history for a great price. I replaced all the rubber seals on it before installing it, along with a good tranny. Fired it up and it knocks, but doesn't leak at all. I rechecked my valve clearances, they were good. Messed with the timing, wasn't perfect but wasn't severely advanced or retarded either. So I decided to pull a plug wire off one at a time to see if I could narrow it down to one cylinder. When I pulled off 2 and 4 the engine tried to stall and the knock was still there. Then when I pulled 1 and 3, nothing happened. No decrease in rpm, no stumbling, but the knock was still there. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) I guess I need to do a compression test next.

I'm getting fed up. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

[SGB]

Bad ignition can make for a really noisy idle. Try new plugs and wires and a new diz cap too. A compression test will give a lot of clues to whats going on.