Finally found the issue of the oil consumption...
Turns out the machinist I sent the block to last year did a poor job boring and honing the cylinders.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a "base line" for what freshly bored & honed cylinders should look and feel like as this was my first engine build,
otherwise I could've had it fixed before I did the initial engine assembly.
According to the new machinist, it was bored too large for the .5mm oversize, it was slightly oblong and too coarse.
After 5,000 miles of driving, the honing was still extremely rough, which caused significant piston ring wear.
The block was corrected with a 1mm overbore and re-honed.
Engine reassembled and in the past 800 miles, the car seems to have only burned a little, if any oil.
Fingers crossed, but I think it's working AOK.
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