OK Sir, here are the results from your suggestion. One taken inside, i think those glitters re just reflections. One taken outside
I don't see any unpleasantness. New filter took a couple of days to arrive from amazon, I don't have time to go out right now. I went for an AC DELCO one based on nothing other than delivery speed. Oil did come out when i took the WIX filter off, quite a lot, enough to make me tighten it up and run for some shop towels and a bowl.
Based on those findings I felt more comfortable running it and went around with a screwdriver listening to various things. The source seemed to be around the driver side header. I took the PCV valve out, expecting volume of ticking/clatter to increase. It did not, so it wasn't from those valves. Then the noise seemed to go away. I checked the header bolts and two ( the outer ones) could be described as "not tight", so may be a leak from there. I've had that before and its the best kind of very nasty engine noise! Still note sure, there might be a feint ticking but with the dog house back on it's not noticeable.
So right now I'm feeling less stressed about this. Maybe it is the header heating up, expanding and sealing a crack/leak? Maybe the filter
was faulty and now the good stuff has found it's way around to all the right places? Not sure But I'll drive it a bit and see how I go for now.
anyway, thanks for replying, it gave me a path forward and as always was much appreciated.