Quote Originally Posted by Knigh7s View Post
...In my case, I have not gone down that route (rebuild) <knock on wood>, but when I start her up there is a strong smell of burning oil (up until she reaches operating temp.), but no smoke or leaks can be found...
I seem to remember one member here (maybe AlaskaVX?) saying that he and his mechanic found a small leak from the back of one of his valve cover gaskets that was his oil loss culprit. Hardly noticeable even when they knew it was there, but something like that may account for the burning smell you notice at start-up...ie; oil leaks past the valve cover gasket after shutdown, then onto the exhaust manifold, and as the exhaust mainfold heats up at start-up, the oil that has leaked onto it is burned off. But since the burning oil smell is just carried off with the airflow over the engine during driving conditions, even though there still may be oil leaking onto your exhaust manifold, you wouldn't be able to smell it as easily.

Not saying that's it, but the symptoms seem to fit anyway.