Reply to "Performer 351 and the Turkey Pan"

High oil use has many possible sources. FWIW, the 'turkey tray' is simply an oil-splash shield for the bottom of an iron intake manifold with exhaust heat risers, all integrated with the steel intake gasket- likely a Ford cost savings! Exhaust heat is high enough with the iron intake to char splashed oil so you needed a shield. They are a 1-time-use unit; not using a new one each time means you need good composite gaskets between the intake ports and the heads or you risk a vacuum leak under the intake. This can be noticed by pulling a breather and listening for sucking noises, or by a leak-down test.
For aluminum intakes with operating heat risers, we used to cut the port seals off old turkey trays and silicone them in below the 'real' intake gaskets, so you got oil-splash protection without risky sealing at the ports from shim-steel on cast aluminum- which the steel often dents. Blocking the heat risers at the ports with pieces of a steel beer can and using composite intake gaskets means the turkey tray shield can be retired with no worries.