Everytime I accelerate hard I have this ticking sound coming from the left side of the engine bay. When I let off of it, the ticking stops & so one.

I'm sure this is just a exaust leak around the stock manifolds somewhere, or even a bad exaust gasket.

But I do have to ask, is there anything else that I should look for just in case it isn't a exaust problem?

rocker arms only other thing i can think of.

btw their are no exhaust manifold gaskets.

No sure what you mean.......anyways most likely an exhaust manifold leak......check the torque on all your manifold bolts.....then if they are ok start it up and give the throttle a few tugs and watch the side that is making the sound.....also feel in the general area where the sound is coming from.....most of the time you can feel the short bursts of hot air coming out of the leaking gasket area.....this will help you determin if it is a manifold leak.....

Sure there are. In fact in every engine rebuild kit the gaskets are included. They have like a metalic covering on them. My factory ones did.

out of the factory, they did not have gaskets.

I have this same problem, and I'm guessing it probably is an exhaust leak as well. I'm going to be getting headers soon enough, so I'm not worried about fixing it.

^ This gentleman is right.

I'm not sure if the manifolds are stock or have been removed before or not.
I just bought this car last week off eBay for a winter project & was just trying to get ideas.

Headers are planned, but I want to have the original 305 compression checked before I do a rebuild. If it is strong enough then I will get probally a 350 block & start from there while still driving the 305.

YES SIR YOU ARE CORRECT.!!!!!!!!!

i just purchased an 88 gmc pickup about 9 months ago has a 305 and tbi ......anyway when i was working on it i was getting a tick noise comming from the passenger side so i took the manifold loose and sure enough no gasket at all..LOL..so it has one on the passenger side and not one on the drivers side right now...


the guy i got it from was a mechanic at gm for 22 years and had the engine and trasmission rebuilt at the shop so i lucked out

Mine must have had them put in at the dealer. My dad was the original owner and never did anything to the car. When I took my manifolds off, sure enough gaskets were there. Well now I know...

Yeah, my '87 still had the stock exhaust manifolds and gaskets on it when I did my header install. Why on earth would they NOT have them?

alot of vehicles from the factory didnt have exhaust manifold gaskets on them because the heads and manifolds were completly new and true surfaces that met up very cleanly and wouldnt leak when mated together ........

using gaskets on exhaust manifolds or headers for that matter is asking for trouble. My SLP headers blew the Felpro gaskets out in two days of driving, less than 70 miles. Now I'm running them without gaskets and I have zero leaks.

Since you have a TBI car, check to make sure it's not the injectors. Is there an open element air cleaner on the car? A lot of times when people install an open element they notice a ticking sound and it's their injectors since the stock snorkel masks the sound. But, just like the others have said, it could definetely be an exhuast leak.

I will stick to my percy gaskets.....I never had trouble with those......I have used them for the last 4 engine pulls......and still have them.....I know I would have exhaust leaks if I went without.......

yeah unless the engine is new it pretty much always leaks .....some get lucky but not many mainly because the exhaust manifolds or headers if used have warped a little due to being tightened down on a hot surface for so long and haveing hot exhaust gasses ran thru them so long they never have a true surface any more....atleast not in my experiences.....