Intermittent crankcase pressure issues

Well, actually there is TONS of vacuum at WOT, just not where YOU'RE thinking. Engine vacuum falls off on acceleration, yes, but vacuum increases severely at the air cleaner going into the engine. That's the other half of the PVC system. When one side falls off, the other side reverses flow into the engine intake pulling the crankcase gasses in through the air cleaner on the other side. This is why often times when you leave the breather disconnected from the air cleaner, you get oil all over the valve cover. That same oil mist can also over come the rings at high RPM and get blown out through the combustion chamber.

The PCV system works good only TWO ways. 100% complete, OR 100% eliminated. I like the system, because on a street car, it actually helps keep the rings sealed and keeps oil consumption down.

On the older cars (mid 60s and prior) they used "OCV" or open crankcase ventilation, which had what was called a road draft tube that stuck straight down into the air flow under the car. All it did was dump the crankcase vapors right into the atmosphere. At least with the PCV, not only are those vapors burned, but an active vacuum is put on the crankcase, helping to keep rings sealed. It's really a win/win.

Yes, people have run "only this" or "only that" for like ten thousand years and "never had a problem", but how would they know the difference if that system had never been complete?

I had intended to try just running double breathers for a bit but never got around to trying it. My dad built a nearly identical 318 8 years ago and never had any of these issues which is what I'm basing most of my reasoning on. Chances are if he got away with the setup he's running (the same as mine) then the issue is definitely elsewhere. There may be a more effective way to manage to blow-by for sure but right now my main concern is definitely tracking down the source. A fresh mild 318 shouldn't be having these problems.

What some of us are trying to get at is: your engine may not actually have too much blowby it just doesn't have a good way to vent the pressure. Now that the engine is out of the car you can't monitor the actual amount of blowby being pumped out by the engine so now all you can really do is play Detective and tear down the engine looking for clues.

Yeah the cat's out of the bag now. Like I said to RustyRatRod I have the luxury of comparing my motor to an almost exact replica since I based it on a build my dad completed a while ago and he helped me put it together. He had none of these issues but he also didn't bend a bunch of pushrods and run his engine with some upside down rocker shafts either lol. That's why I'm so certain the issue isn't just improper ventilation.