First I should say thanks to all those who have helped me with my incessant questioning... unfortunately, it's not done... :o and I'm almost at my wits end.

I changed all my brake hoses and the MC today, flushed, bled, everything was operating perfectly. The old MC was indeed leaking, nothing huge but a trail and some rust running down the inner cylinder "tube" or whatever the part that fits into the booster is called. The interior of the booster looked great except for a little bit of nasty stuff at the bottom, not a puddle but some rust and bit of gooey looking residue from old fluid.

Anyway, I got the new master cylinder installed (ATE) , started it up, and NO MORE WHITE SMOKE. Yay. Checked the brakes, drove it, all is well. Still no white smoke on start-up.

Then I drove it for about 30 minutes, let it sit for an hour, and started it up again. A good bit of white smoke came pouring out the exhaust, definitely more than ever before. So I take a look at the cylinder and booster and look what I find...

Sure seems to me that I got a bad master cylinder. Where the hell is that fluid coming from that is seeping through evenly around the seal? Everything was spotless upon installation and follow up. The booster was cleaned lightly with a rag misted with brake cleaner followed by damp cloth with soap and water, everything was dry and I cannot explain where this fluid can be coming from if it's not leaking through the MC. I checked the reservoir fastidiously using an inspection mirror and there is no fluid originating from the "outside" of the MC at the reservoir grommets or anything like that.

Pay no attention to the blue towel, I was about to wipe the fluid away and see if it returns but then I though, NO, this is ridiculous, it's a bad part. I don't know what else to do but try another MC. I very carefully sanded away any flaky rust and paint around where the new o-ring seals while the booster was taped off to prevent any contamination... I was really very cautious about all my steps and the brake system is working perfect EXCEPT FOR THIS... :mad: