haven't noticed any smoke upon startup but i'll be looking for it now. the center cylinder on the passenger side had the offending plugs. and the stumble at idle has continued even though i've now replaced the plugs. i'm crossing my fingers that its valve seals, but i'll know this weekend after i do the vacuum/compression tests.

assuming that this is a valve related issues, does anyone know weather or not theses cars have permenent valve guides or are they the removable sleeved type?

thanks for the imput guys