ok so when i got in my car and started it this morning it started making a pretty decent knocking sound. checked the oil it was about a half quart low and smelled of gas extremely bad. so i limped it the 1.5 miles to work and drained the oil out of it. no metal shavings or chunks to be seen. strained the oil through a rag and nothing metallic at all came out of the engine.
so i pulled the valve covers and checked the lash on all the lifters. they were all in spec. so i put some 10w40 in the engine and let it idle for a while. revved it up and the knocking got louder.
so about this time i admitted defeat and parked the car. after work i started it up and as expected, the knocking was still there.
so on the way home i drove it pretty aggressively hoping something would give way so i would have an excuse to buy a 26 lol.
but to my suprise the knocking/ticking damn near went away completely. you can still hear it but you have to be listening for it and have the hood open.

soooo.....what do you think this could be?
im stuck between stubborn lifters that finally primed themselves or a loose piston pin that got set back into place from the aggressive driving.

all thoughts and opinions are appreciated, good or bad.

thanks,
jason