Hmmm...I recall that it sounded like numerous clicks - almost a rattling. But it has been a few days now and I only heard the sound for about 30 seconds, so its hard to rememebr exactly what it sounded like. I hope to be able to start the engine tonight with the cam cover off after I check the cam timing.
Who knows, maybe I will get lucky and the sound will have gone away with the cam cover off and I will know for sure that it was the culprit all along.
As for the valves being too tight, well I was just hoping that the work was done right and they would have checked for that. I did pay them a lot of money, after all.