the last 2 times i took the car out for a drive, i noticed  smoke coming out of the breather cap and oil dripping from the breather also.  (it's not the stock setup.  i have a PCV valve on one valve cover and a breather on the other.)  the oil dripping from the breather cap is bad enough to drip onto the exhaust and cause it to burn off.

Jeff, I would suggest a compression test, and a leak-down test, to determine the state of the piston sealing. If the compression test shows low on a few cylinders, and the leak-down test shows excessive leakage, then I would consider it time for an O/H.
Using the other PCV valve with the "T" on it to the vap. can. will have no effect on this problem.

thanks for the input Joel.

Depends on what the leak-down test shows. You may need to have the block bored, and new pistons insstalled, or you may get away with just a re-ring.
If it were me(and it's not), I would go ahead and have the bores checked for wear, and see if a re-bore was needed. Again, it would depend on the leak-down results.
You may want to install a vaccuum gauge, and drive the car, just to see what kind of vac. you have while driving. There may be a vac. supply issue that is keeping the PCV valve from working at higher rpms, creating the excessive oil in the breather. Another thing could be too much oil staying up in the heads, instead of draining back down to the pan. You could pull the valve covers off, and make sure the drain back holes are fully open, so the oil can drain back into the pan. too much oil trapped up on the heads will cause this, too. Do your valve covers have baffles over the hole where the breather fits? If not, that may be the problem.
So many possibilities...Adams' Apple2006-11-25 18:24:48

I noticed something on my white 79. When I bought it last year I drove it home over 1000 miles. When I got home I noticed a little oil film around the PVC grommet and along the fins in the valve cover. Pulled the PVC valve and it was a generic PepBoys type of thing. Since L48s and L82s use different valves(I sure don't know why?) I got me a correct for L82 PVC valve. No more oil film.

Now I wasn't DRIPPING oil or anything and the breather goes into the air cleaner instead of an open cap on the valve cover so I didn't notice any smoke on my long trip.  Maybe a cam change affects the PVC valve???