The main problem is the rings are going which was causing my white smoke and oil loss. But after so much driving like that the converter clogged and thus my steady loss of power/speed. The solution so far? Took out the converter, since my state doesn't do emission testing. Had to replace the exhaust valves after that...... they were burned up. But the good news is the car made the entire trip home with no problems (except 8 quarts of oil burned). Rings and exhaust are next but at least I am home!