Denny, in 1980 I built up a 1960 Rambler 196 cubic inch flathead six that burned oil from the git-go due to inadequate cleanup of the cylinder walls after I honed them. I left on a trip from California to Tennessee immediately after doing an in-the-frame rebuild, and by the time I arrived in Nashville (2,500 miles), it was using 3 quarts of oil to every tank of gas. The spark plugs WERE NOT oil-fouling! When I pulled the pistons, the oil ring expanders were rubbing the cylinder walls because the abrasive residue had worn the steel rails down to half their original thickness in 2500 miles of driving. An engine can put a massive amount of oil through a cylinder without necessarily fouling plugs of giving other evidence of oil consumption.
Jerry
