I bought a 1986 Toyota Sr5 pickup last week for $500. It ran fine and didn't have the ticking noise. It just started about 4 days ago. It sounds like metal hitting metal , it isn't very loud and after about 2500 rpm you can barely hear it. It seems to be louder when the engine is warm .My first idea after searching the web was the timing chain, and when I saw the guides were broken I replaced the guides, chain, sprockets, tensioner, cover, water pump, and oil pump. This didn't help the ticking, but it did stop the oil leak . Then I adjusted the valves to .008 and .012, they were all really tight, didn't help. The valve cover is tightened to 5ft pounds so I don't think it's too tight. There is an exhaust leak, which makes the sound harder to hear, but it sounds like it's coming from the top end. It follows the engine rpm. What else would make this noise? It has 200,000 miles on it. For some reason my video isn't uploading, I will try again later. The oil pressure is good.

I used a screwdriver to try to get an idea of where the sound was coming from. It is much louder on the two passenger side valve cover bolts, kind of loud on the driver side rear, and I couldn't hear it on the driver side front. Not great info, but maybe someone has some ideas.

 

All I hear is an exhaust leak and happy valves

 

I can't load the video, but of what I Heard, it sounds like you are having engine knock. Are you putting in regular or premium fuel?

 

It sounds like it has a bad exhaust leak, so I cannot hear much of the ticking. That could even make the ticking sound worse depending on what it is. I would start by fixing the exhaust leak. Another quick test is to loosen the valve cover bolts while the engine is running to see if it quiets down as that is easy to try. Also make sure you adjust the valves hot. Some people adjust them to .007 / .011 to quiet them down and I doubt that would be a problem. If the noise changes with engine load, then it is probably in the bottom end. If it just changes with RPM then it is most likely in the valves.