A few minor issues i want to fix

Most of these signs could be related to a vacume leak.

What gasket is leaking oil anyway?

If you're using the rubber felpro valve cover gasket then I wouldn't put any silicone on it. Silicone tends to make rubber gaskets slip all over the place. Scrape off any silicone that's on the head and cover, degrease the mating surfaces and put the rubber gasket on dry.

If you haven't, I would check your PCV valve. If it's not working correctly it can cause pressure to build up in the crankcase and cause the valve cover to leak. The ford PCV is generally better than the parts store stuff but for a naturally aspirated 2.3 you should be fine with any brand PCV valve.

On one of my merkurs I had a leaking valve cover gasket...replaced it and started up the car. After about 5 minutes enough oil was leaking out of the valve cover and through the front cam seal to cause a huge cloud of smoke. After turning the car off and letting it cool down I checked out the PCV valve. It's innards had somehow fallen apart and the valve was with nothing inside of it...no spring, no nothing. Replaced the valve and things were good.

Oh, and if your PCV does turn out to be bad, check your plugs. Oil can overflow into the intake with a faulty PCV valve and cause the plugs to get fouled. That could explain the problems starting the car and whatnot.

The pcv valve should be a straight piece with a fat end on the bottom (about 5/8 of an inch) and a skinny end at the top (about 3/8 of an inch). Sometimes the parts store pcv valves will come with a 90 degree rubber/plastic piece coming off the top. This piece can be pulled off and discarded.

The fact that you've replaced the valve cover gasket and it's still leaking points directly at a bad PCV valve (unless the valve cover gasket wasn't seated in the grooves properly when you installed it or torqued it really lopsidedly).

Edit: I just looked up the pcv valve on partsamerica.com. The black part on the top is the piece that can be pulled off and thrown away. That valve should work.

If it's definitely leaking from the valve cover gasket, you may want to pull the valve cover and make sure it's not warped by taking a straightedge to it. Also, clean up the gasket mating surfaces with carb cleaner or some mild degreaser. I'd then make sure you're torquing the bolts down evenly and not over doing it. The rubber valve cover gasket can be reused as long as it's in good shape.

Yeah, I've never had trouble getting the valve cover gasket to seal, or heard of problems with it... and I've used only 7/8 bolts when one broke off in the head for several years too.

Is the gasket split? What are you torquing it to? I think the spec is 10ft*lbs, but I'll grip a 1/4" ratchet by the head only to get near this spec. Are the surfaces streight and clean?

The ONLY way I have ever gotten a valve cover gasket on a 2.3L to totally seal (my PCV system is fully functional) is to use a Motorcraft rubber gasket. I clean and degrease the head and valve cover mating surfaces, then apply a thin smearing of non-hardening gasket sealer to the valve cover, gasket, and head. Seems to work really well that way.