Valve train upgrade advice. Maybe heads

[Mike70gtx]

I will be pulling my motor (totally ate my spark plug in number one). Looking at my signature what would you recommend for an upgrade without serious money. What I want to eliminate is the annoying ticking sound that will come and go. Sounds like a lifter. On last rebuild I took apart every lifter and cleaned them before reinstall. They were fine until about 2000 miles I added some oil and the ticking sound would come and go. Anyhow. What about a roller cam, etc. My heads have been angle ground but not ported. The flow chart shows about a 24% increase from stock. If cam what grind? Not sure if I come up with cash but thinking about heads, cam the whole upper part. What would you recommend for a next step or even the whole top? Money? Depends if I get another vehicle sold. Maybe $1000 to $1500.