Water in oil after rebuild - looking for guidance

That is disappointing. I’m curious. Not saying this was the cause but did you retorque the heads? It’s a step many people opt out of because it means removing components and down time. It is a very important step.

Deciding to use replacement head bolts is another thing to think about because they do stretch. Had this happen but with a Chevy 350. I changed two sets of head gaskets before resolving that problem.

Both scenarios can cause leaks but I’m not sure about a crack. I would guess antifreeze is not the correct ratio or an overheating situation.

I would highly recommend in the future (if you haven’t) retorquing the heads for piece of mind. I recently installed new heads and the instructions do mention it.

Maybe get your torque wrench recalibrated too just to cover your bases.

Good luck