James. the compression test will tell for sure, but it sounds like your engine is fine, and the oil valve stem seals are going bad. The hot weather is hard on these old seals. When cooler weather sets in, there is a chance your smoke problem will diminish. One of my 68's has blown stem seals, and it smokes at startup. In the summer, the problem is far worse. D^2 At 08:03 PM 8/20/2002 -0600, you wrote: >D^2 > >Quite frankly, I wonder if it is a combination of both worn rings and stem >seals. >The car has always smoked a little at startup, but has recently started to >smoke >all the time. The spark plugs are a little oily on the threads with carbon >deposits surrounding the electrodes. The electrode surfaces themselves are >relatively clean.