Mystery Rattle Noise

Pulled fuel pump and checked spring and arm. Spring was intact and tight and the arm and cam had nothing more than normal wear. Timing set was all in good shape with nothing loose and no signs of rubbing on the cover. But once I had the cover off I tapped the oil slinger on the crank with a screwdriver and could hear it coming up through the head through the oil drain back hole. I may just not put the oil slinger back on as it seems it's purpose was to prevent the timing cover seal from being flooded with oil but with todays seals that isn't an issue anymore. I also thought about buying another slinger and putting two on there so it fits tight. I thought I had the balancer on as far as it would go since the belt lined up with the water pump but maybe it needed to go back a little further by using an additional washer to stop the bolt from bottoming out.