[icingdeath88]

Ok, so here's where we're at. I checked the largish vac hose that leads from the AACV to the top of the throttle body; there was no oil whatsoever, so it can't be coming from there. The PCV I wasn't really able to get to. Can I just check the lines that lead to the valve for oil? Or are they normally kind of oily anyway?

I drained the oil I first put in (mobil1 10w30) and put in some non-synth mobil 10w40 high mileage and half a big bottle of lucas stop leak stuff.

Haven't been able to do a compression test yet.

Still burning oil; lots of smoke from the exhaust. In fact, oil will pool in the ends of the exhaust tips.

I drove it today to see how it would act. It doesn't always smoke. The pattern is hard to describe. No smoke if you start it up after sitting for a while, and if you just have it idle, it won't smoke for a long time (we let it go for 45 minutes). If driven very gently, shifting at about 2000 rpms, it won't start to smoke for maybe 5-10 minutes of driving. Once it starts to smoke, it won't stop until it sits again for a little while (even like 30 mins is enough though). If you rev it to like 3000 rpms it will start to smoke right away, even without a load.

Does any of that mean anything to anyone?

Haven't found any evidence of water coming out of the exhaust. Is there any way to tell if there are exhaust gases or oil in the water? Although even if there are, I guess it could be what the previous engine left in the radiator. Hmm...