Mitsubishi Repair: valve cover gasket & Misc., valve cover gasket, cold air intake

Question
I have a 01 Spyder 3.0L GT Manual had some leaking oil into the spark plug tubes. A friend and myself replaced both sets of gaskets and the problem is still occuring. I check every once in a while and remove excess oil from the stoppers. The oil usually is just on the top of the stopper and doesn't reach the spark plugs. The rear set covered by the intake are usually worse. Is this something i should be worried about? Also, I have been interested in aftermarket cold air intake and exhaust. I was wondering about your thoughts on this and if its a good idea and if you recommend anything? She has 105,000 miles.

Answer
Riley,
Any oil leak is not good.  Especially if the oil level drops too low.  You should check to see if you notice any cracks on the valve cover.  Sometime oil can seep out from the valve cover bolt holes.  It could be doing this cracks from over tightening or seepage from under tightening.

With a cold air intake, you might gain between 5-10 HP, which really isn't that noticeable. If you want to replace the exhaust, you'd get best results from replacing everything from the downpipe to the muffler, including a high-flow catalytic converter.  This all can be quite expensive, and you may only gain around 20-30 HP, which in most cases is not worth the money or time investment.  Also keep in mind that before you consider any modifications, make sure engine is in top running condition.  This means you would want to take care of that oil leak before anything is attempted because any upgrade could make any existing problems worse.
Good luck!