OK - many months later, i'm still at it trying to figure this one out. about every 500 miles or so, i'm down a qt. occasional puff out the back on start, nothing after that, other than being able to smell oil. tried replacing the intake seal, no joy. replaced the PCV valve, no joy. took it a step further and plugged the vacuum port for PCV and put a breather on it, no joy. the valves are already gunked up from this crap, plugs are always fouling, so it appears to be sucking oil in to the cylinders, i just don't know how or from where. can't remember what type valve seals were used on the rebuild, i think teflon, but has the signs of bad valve seals. thoughts are to change all those out, back to stock type seals, to see if it alleviates the problem. any other thoughts? this rebuild only has about 13k miles on it, car has sit in the garage more often than not, hence the "many months later". i don't think it's the rings, but i guess anything is possible.

Do a stall test and check the blowby to eliminate the rings.
Get the engine up to full operating temperature, set parking brake, put blocks in front of all 4 wheels. Remove oil filler cap, have an assistant stand on the brake, put it in drive and take it up to 1/2 throttle. Don't stand in front of the car and watch the white mist that comes out of the filler hole. There will either be a lot or nearly none.
If there is a 6" tall plume coming out, it's the rings.

thanks for the reply. i will try that.

on another note, when i put that breather on the valve cover in place of the pcv valve, the foam element in it was getting oil in it, so may be a sign that the rings are causing the problem?

Yep. The blowby is a symptom of a ring problem. The oil consumption will be by way of the rings not the PCV.

Heve you done a compression and a leak down test on the engine? That could tell you alot also.