The baffle wouln't cause as much oil consumption as you describe, but you should put a breather on it instead of running the line to the intake IMO.

If the gaskets "fell down", that could cause this problem, did you have them seated in the head gasket notch?

Thats awesome rockon:
I wonder why mine pinged like a bastard........?
I had it 14*Adv.

Yeah, I've heard that before too, never had an issue personally though. Different cars, different results I guess..............

pics...
 

i was carfull to seat them in the gasket notch at each of the 4 corners, but have a look - one of these pics shows a corner; is it seated right, or do these pics reveal a gasket sitting too low? does it appear from the pics that the gasket position might be causing this problem?

also, i realize you say it's not the prob, but i'll put a breather on instead of running the line from the oil fill to the intake if you think i should. what do you mean by "a breather"?

Try a different brand of gaskets and send those back defective with the pics. I always use fel-pro.

You can get a breather anywhere, basically a small open air filter you connect wit a hose clamp, be sure to note the nipple size-I think it's 5/15 or 3/8".

thx richard. why r they defective? have we found my prob?
also, what brand would you suggest? the ones in the pics are felpro (#1250)

What heads are those? You look like you could use stock intake gaskets on those. Would give you a fair bit more sealing surface.

Everybody does it differently.

When I've done it on my cars (the purple one and the Lincoln) I used the Ford Grey RTV. Make sure you RTV around the coolant ports. use the RTV to "glue" the gasket to the head and let it setup for 10-20 minutes.

I also use the rubber end seals with a thin skin of the RTV on the tops and bottoms with dabs in the corners.

Gluing the gaskets to the heads with the RTV prevents them from sagging and doing the fun stuff yours are doing.

And, as I said, every engine is different, without the baffles in my valve covers, I have no noticeable oil consumption on the Lincoln, and when the other engine was in the purple car, it was the same way.

Torque sequence is very important as well. Go slow, do it in steps and don't stop until they are all down and at torque.

Let it sit. Come back an hour later and re-check the torque on them.

Are you sure those are for your 5.0L? the ports look a bit big to me, they usually seal much closer than that. Are they for a Cobra intake? if so, that's likely your problem. The Cobra has GT-40 heads which have bigger ports, in which case they are not defective, but used on the wrong application. Go get an intake set for your year, make, model and use those, you don't need another upper gasket if yours is in good shape and not torn, it can be re-used.
I can't say if that's the oil-consumption problem for sure-but it looks like it could be.
The Fel-Pro gaskets I use are all blue in colour-not black like those. Did you modify those gaskets? the coolant port looks like it was cut open. When you get the new ones, make sure they fit better. You may need to bend the head gasket up a bit to help them better fit the head ports if they still don't line up.
If you care, when I do a set, here's my method:
-both surfaces must be absolutely clean
-all fasteners must be absolutely clean
-lay down the gaskets with "side up" facing up
-apply a continuous bead of RTV black (or equivalent) silicone to the ends with about 1/8"overlap to the gaskets
-install intake immediately and begin torque procedure
-go around the bolts in the correct sequence until they are all torqued (this sometimes takes 10 sequences or so)
-change oil (filter too if needed or engine has been run)
-wait at least an hour before filling coolant and running engine.

Ponyryd: The 1250's have a modifiable coolant crossover hole in them; There is a spot that is meant to be cut out for use on some heads, left in for use on others.

And those are the normal Felpro 1250's, which are a perfect fit for the TFS intakes and are called for by many aftermarket head manufacturers including AFR for use with their heads.

thanks a lot guys. yeah, these are the 1250s, and are recommended for thet cobra intake. the instructions told me to cut out the part of the coolant port gasket material that didn't fit my application.
and yes, these are stock heads. i'm gonna run em until 2009 and hopefully get something better then, but for now i've got the stock E6 (i know they're bad!!!) heads found only on the '86s. what i'm hearing then from OVERKILL and PONYRYD is that i should go get the regular gaskets for my year and stock heads, so i'm gonna go and do that and see if the fit isn't a little better and tighter around the port holes. i hope that's the prob. i was real careful to tighten all the bolts in the recommended sequence, though i did so in 3 stages, not more than that. i was also real about making sure the head and intake surfaces were super duper clean and dry. i'll follow your guys' instructions carefully and see how she turn out.

thank you all for your time and generous advice (and patience with the newbie)...