Coolant draining, am I crazy?

[MidnightOwl]

88 vert with 87 TII swap:

Well, my problem is two-fold. First of all, the car doesn't get driven much because of a few kinks I need to work out and the car isn't registered, so I dunno if it smokes. Last time I drove it, it was fine. The car pretty much sits next to my shop waiting for me to have time to work on it to get it up to par so I can register it. As it sits, the coolant level drops, but not significantly. I'd say under or around half a quart maybe. It sits on gravel so I can never really tell if it's leaking out onto the ground. The car is flooded, so I haven't gotten it started in a few weeks, the battery is usually pretty low when I feel like working on it. I pulled the plugs in an attempt to get it unflooded, and I didn't notice any coolant on them, so I'm fairly sure the coolant seals are still in place. I imagine if the coolant seal had let go, it'd probably leak down considerably. I don't really have reason to believe the seals are toast, since I've only driven the car twice since I've gotten it rebuilt. My father suggested that the coolant is just settling into the system as it sits, but I dunno. I've replaced the coolant twice, and come back to find it's leaked down a bit again. I topped it back off today, so maybe tomorrow it'll still be full and I'm just paranoid. Also, cranking it with the thermostat cap off doesn't yield any bubbles when the coolant is full.

Second, there is some standing coolant under the upper intake manifold on top of the engine. There are two little "pits" on either side of the injectors on the housings, and thats where the coolant is puddling up. I know it's not coming from below, because it water starts flowing upwards, we're all in a world of hurt. I had seen someone had a similar problem before, but I was pretty unclear of what had come loose to allow coolant to puddle up under there. It seems to never go away, so I imagine it's a consistent problem. The emissions have been removed, so a lot of the coolant nipples have been capped off, and the rubber cap on the back of the thermostat housing/water pump looks to be a little worn, so I'm gonna replace that with a new one here in a bit. I just want to know what else could cause coolant to puddle up in this area.