good news, well for me anyway. sorry 87 delta haha. Me being a tire tech and not a mechanic, i was shown the difference between a head gasket and an intake gasket

i feel stupid now but im still learning haha.
So anyway it was my intake gasket that was leaking. I've got my carburator off all thats left to do is take the intake off and replace the gasket. i managed to break all of the vacume lines but thats okay they were all original equipment and leaking anyway and need replacing
i plan on doing all that at work today, along with a good wash/degreasing because the coolant is everywhere and a 160 degree thermostat (as oppose to 180) and an oil change once the intakes back on. tough to think about how i almost gave up on her

still only 68K miles! I'll keep you posted on the progress
Brian