I thought my oil level was too high causing the oil burning issue, so I swapped to a different dipstick...I didn't know they had different dipstick lengths for the 2.9L V6...anyhow that didn't work out well, damn near blew it up, had 2 quarts of oil left in it, and apparently the dipstick I pulled out of another 2.9L V6 in a Ranger was incorrect as well...I was climbing a hill on the highway coming home and it started losing power really bad. Got home and let it cool checked the oil with the other dipstick and had to add 3 quarts to bring it back up to full...runs just fine after adding the oil LOL. The oil burning and lifter rattle is quite annoying, other than that it still runs good until it fouls the plugs and I just put new plugs in and its good to go again for a few more months LOL. I am hoping it keeps going till fall and I'll have a rebuild kit ordered and get that done, figured after I have the engine rebuilt it should be ready to go for another 30 years LOL. The AAMCO rebuilt transmission is doing great, I don't do any towing and won't do any towing with it. I did have a larger tranny cooler added though when the tranny was rebuilt. Still need to install my tranny temp gauge though.