Oil in cylinders after rebuild

Hi, I am Ash, I live in NZ and I have a problem, I like MG's. That feels good to get off my chest.
I am actually going off my MG a little. I bought it to compete in a series called 2K Cup and also in the European Classic Series in NZ. The first motor came pre cooked so that came out pretty quickly and I was lucky enough to find another VVC motor from a frontal crashed MGF. Both motors are '96/97 so they have the same issues. The second engine already had a new head gasket and was apparently a good runner before the crash, I serviced the motor, put new belt, tensioner and water pump on before sticking the lump back in, all seemed fine until a few weeks later it ran a big end bearing during qualifying.
Once I stripped it down I realised how bad the internals were chocked up from lack of servicing, even the VVC plunger was caked in gunk inside the unit. I cleaned it all up so it was shiny as the day it was made and I put it back together.
The crank was too badly damaged to use so I used the crank and pistons from the first engine which had cooked, given that they were in good condition. I thought it best to keep the crank and pistons together and assumed that they would be OK in the good block of engine #2. I installed new pistons, gapped them and clocked them but once back together the rings would not seat and the oil was flooding the cylinders. I hadn't honed the liners as they looked OK, but I should have done that so, I pulled it back down and honed the liners, checked ring gaps and clocked, still OK. Popped it all back together and it still smokes like a coal plant. I can't get the rings to seat on the freshly honed liners.
I have used SAE 30 to help the running in process.
Has anyone done a rebuild and experienced a smoke screen from the car afterwards. I'm not talking puffs of smoke, I'm talking about enough smoke to get arrested.
I took the car out at dusk today to see if a few Kilometres of high revs would help, it didn't.
I do have a sump baffle in, has anyone experienced issues after installing a baffle/windage tray?
The pistons are really sucking up the oil but I don't see how so much oil is getting to the bottom of the pistons in the first place, its not like the crank touches the oil in the sump.
The head has been done and all stem seals were renewed as was every other gasket in there. It now has the MLS gasket with steel shim.
It did not smoke before the change of crank and pistons.
PVC and hoses are all OK too.
I am thinking of installing new liners and pistons to hopefully fix this issue, but that seems extreme when it could be something simple.

Sorry for the long story, I tried to keep it relevant to the issue.

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Oil in cylinders after rebuild