Jon, that's a great idea, thanks for sharing it with us! The next time I'm fiddling with the valve cover, I'll have to make some of those spreaders.
As I look at my valve cover, I think the leak was coming from the oil fill cap the entire time. I guess I just never saw the trail of oil from the cap, down the side and pooling in the lip of the valve cover. The oil must have just migrated toward the rear of the engine (natural slope) and collected on each side of the valve cover. Since I put the gaskets on the screws and replaced the oil fill cap all is well.
