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Cal, In all engines, a certain amount of exhaust gas "blows by" the rings into the crankcase, hence the term "blow by". Excessive blow by is generally due to ring/sleeve wear, broken rings, or related problems. You're there and we aren't, but nothing you've said indicates to me that you have excessive blow by. The concern is that the white acrid smoke you have described in the blow by is very strong evidence that antifreeze is entering the combustion chamber and being blown past the rings along with the more normal combustion gases into the crankcase and then out the breather. If in fact the head is okay, you almost certainly are leaking antifreeze along the head gasket. This is not the only possible source for antifreeze in the crankcase, but is by far the most likely under the circumstances. As GeoMo mentioned, if the valve job resulted in increase compression, you might have more blow by than before the head work, but this will not cause the white smoke in the blow by. If in fact the white smoke is from antifreeze, you should also be getting some white smoke out the exhaust. This may be hard to see except in cooler weather, or may resemble normal steam from a cold exhaust, but smoke from antifreeze tends to dissipate much more slowly than steam and can sometimes still be seen after the engine is warmed up. Antifreeze in the combustion chamber can score the cylinder walls and in the crankcase will eventually condense and mix in with the oil with serious results including bearing damage. I would not ignore this problem if the engine were mine. If I were in your position, I would: 1. Carefully remove the head - disturb the head gasket as little as possible. 2. Check around each water passage very carefully to determine if the gasket shows any indication of leakage - carbon streaking from the sleeve toward the water passage, for example, indicates poor sealing. 3. Check to see if the gasket was installed properly - most have an up and down side. 4. If you don't find any evidence of a head gasket problem, I would take the head to a different shop to be checked for straightness and cracks, and also check the block surface. 5. If at this point you have still found no problems, I would check the calibration of the torque wrench and re-assemble with a new head gasket, making sure you meticulously follow the torquing sequence. 6. I personally never retorque the head unless the service manual specifically recommends doing so.
I suppose at this point you have nothing to lose by retorquing the head before you take it back apart, but I would be very surprised if that solves your problem. Good luck, let us know what you find.....
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