1988 chevy pickup with 350 burning oil

Quoted From ptrhip:

my 88 chevy has a 350 and ive replaced the valve cover gaskets the pcv valve but it is still buring oil i was wondering if it could be the oil pan gasket

You would be seeing oil in the place where it’s parked if it were from the pan.

How much oil is being lost over how many miles(for example 1 quart every 1,000 miles)???

It could simply be losing a lot past worn or broken rings on the cylinder heads, allowing too much blow by. This can lead to a clogged EGR system. Also, even though you replaced the PCV valve, check the hoses/pipes to make sure they are free of obstruction.

If your oil loss is that bad and it’s leaking, you’ll see oil under the vehicle on your driveway. If you don’t see it, you must be burning oil. A Chevy small block that old with over 250K miles on it will often burn oil past the valve guides and less often past the piston rings as well. If you remove a few spark plugs and find oil fouling, you know you’re burning oil.
Look at the drive way. Lots of fresh oil there? If there’s just a little, look at the spark plugs. If you find no oil fouling on four of them, then you need to look at all of them.
Go to Google images and enter “spark plugs”. You’ll find pics of oil fouled plugs.
If you have oil fouling, the next step would be a dry and wet compression test. Eric has a free video with perfect instructions on how to do this.
If the engine is toast, you may want to look into a Goodwrench 350 for your PU.

Is it leaking or burning it? Sounds like it’s burning it so it wouldn’t be the oil pan gasket. Probably leaking valve seals or excessive blowby due to worn piston rings. LIke stated above, probably time for a rebuild or replacement of the engine.

If it’s leaking, it could be worn valve guides. Burning sounds like rings. Do check the plugs, but it’s probably time for a rebuild. In that vehicle, a rebuilt replacement is relatively cheap. Installation will be expensive, unless you have the time/tools/knowhow to deal with it.