[jeef]

there is def. a huge difference between vavle float and knocking... valve float is when you rev so fast that your vavle springs can't force the vavles back shut before a cycle is complete... but if you have a big beefy cam in there you may need stronger springs and retainers b/c you can rev higher... and knocking would mean your engine really needs tuned up, check the vavle lash and make sure every thing is tightened down to spec.. and you might want to have everything hooked up and then see how it runs with the smoke deal... it if has been sitting that long it may be burning off deposits, or the rings maybe bad... why don't you run a compression test? find out if the rings are bad...