Timing chain help

Working on motor and it seems to have what sounds like a lifter tick. It has adjustable valve train , I ran the rack 3 different times made no difference, checked for rocker to valve retainer clearance and was good, no collapsed lifters and cam seems great has a hydraulic flat tappet, made sure to check simple things no lose plugs, or exhaust leaks and no rockers hitting valve covers, so tried old trick , wooden handle to the ear. Listened to valve covers sounded good listened to each exhaust pipe on motor and sounded good listened to intake runners sounded good. It has a electric fuel pump in tank so not that, cant put the wooden handle on timing cover while its running but Iam thinking this is what the problem is !!! I can hear the problem what seems to sound more towards the driver side , not as bad when cold but there seems to be worse when motors warm, and the sound seems to come from under the intake towards the front and doesnt have the dull sound like piston skirts its up high. Is there and easy way to check the timing chain with out tearing it down thinking maybe chain is slapping the cover.

Thanks

You could remove the distributor to get a somewhat 'top inside view'.....and pull off the fuel pump block off plate and get a look inside there too.
Another idea, would be to remove the valve covers, set the engine on TDC, and rotate forward and backward to determine how much chain slop there is according to valvetrain movement.
If the chain is rubbing on the inside of the cover, it would be a constant rubbing/grinding noise and would probably be very quite obvious.
But a ticking noise is usually something that operates in a up/down motion (lifters, pushrods, valves, springs, retainers, etc.).

I found the problem, thought it might be the timing chain, it was used with a little play but not to bad, advanced it 2 degrees and the cam degred in good so today I pulled intake was looking to see if any retainer clips came out of the lifters or not. Was a new comp cam 4x4 extreme energy and lifters, started looking at the rockers to retainer clearance when i was gonna pull the push rods, I guess I should have checked them all ,only have about .020 clearance, but 1 only had .006 on it. I knew the push rods were a little short, I was pushing the limit and I should have took the time and checked each and every one. My push rods are comp cam 3/8 8.550 magnum push rods part number 7172. If anyone has any longer ones dont care on name brand,long as there 3/8 and hardened for guide plates and could use these ill trade ya that would be great.


Thanks

one way you can check the timing chain is with the dizzy still in the engine take dizzy cap off and turn the engine as the rotor move stop then turn the engine in the other direction see how much the crank move before the rotor does that will give you a idea of how much slack you have in the chain