Ive had my z28 since july and from what I can gather it has the famous piston slap. It slaps when cold then goes away to almost nothing when hot. However the other daymy friend was driving and its an auto anyway he drops it into 1st and doesnt shift so its bounces off the limiter. I really havent heard any weird ticking sounds from the top and it seems quiet with a stethescope to the valve cover. So is there a chance I could still have a bent push rod. The piston slap dissapears and the motors quiet wen its revved above 1200 rpms hot or cold. Does a pushrod get louder as the rpms go up? Also I did the valve cover gaskets before this took place and all the pushrods were good.
Thanks Dan-

 

If the ticking started after your friend bounced it off the limiter then there's a chance you bent a pushrod. This usually happens after a miss downshift on an M6 and it's not very common on a A4 but not impossible, if it's a very quiet tick i wouldn't worry about it, LS1's are very noisy engines.

 

Its been there since I got the car and has the same sound I really havent heard anything abnormal since then. Just for reference though doesnt a pushrod tap get faster with rpms?

 

Yes it'll increase with engine RPM, this sounds like regular LS1 valvetrain chatter.