[Calogero6685]

First off:
The exhaust does NOT smell sweet
The oil is NOT milky
IF I've lost ANY coolant, it's been minimal
Does NOT want to overheat

Now that that's established: (In order)
-Bad thermostat
-Caught it on my 3 miles trip from work to home
-Replaced thermostat
-Four days later I managed to get a hole in my radiator
-Lost a LOT of coolant potentially running my pump dry, but thankfully, once again, I caught it on my 3 mile trip from work to home.
-Replaced with Mishimoto 52mm aluminum radiator
-Filled radiator, turned the car on, left the cap off, expected the thermostat to open and I would just keep filling as necessary
-Never saw the coolant dropped so I ASSUMED it was full
-Drove around for a bit and eventually it started to overheat
-Was getting so hot that it was starting to diesel at startup and was running so rough from being hot that it would throw out timing then stall out.
-I eventually realized my amateur mistake of first not checking to make sure my heat/heater hoses were flowing/working.
-I finally found the damn fill plug for the BLOCK behind my RAI from the shaker.
-Filled the block and everything was gravy.

I'm assuming that there was too little coolant to push the thermostat open from lack of pressure and that's why my upper radiator hose was hot from the coolant in the block heating up, but my bottom hose was cool and my heater hoses were not working. She's been great since then and I have absolutely ZERO heating problems. My only concern is that the pump my have been running hot and maybe the gasket is going out from that much abuse that it was put through and now when I let the car sit, I can smell a bit of coolant burning from the engine bay, but not when I'm driving. (Obviously because I'm moving and there's not enough burning for me to smell it)

So... The big question:
What do you think it is? I'm assuming the gasket is going bad and it's evaporating on the block, but I see no leaks.

Any input?

EDIT:
I've been driving her like this Thanksgiving and no problems other than the smell at idle. I'm just now asking about it.

['97'Cobra]

its not going to evaperate on the block. You will see a dried corrosive look from the coolant. If you cant see anything leaking but can still smell it burning, check the heater core. It my have burned up. If it was me I would take it to a car wash and pressure wash the motor and underneath, drive it then check for leaks. Just a start i guess. If you can see anything after that i would check the heater core.

[glittle75]

Check heater core hoses, one may be clogged and split a little. Also check the fittings that come through the firewall for the heater core. Reach up under the pass side of the dash a feel around, see if anything is wet. Im betting heater core or hoses problem.

[hooliganryder]

Heater core..replacing it is a pain.. Radaitor stop leak might buy some time

[Calogero6685]

Not cool...

What happens when they go bad?

['97'Cobra]

you wont have any heat and you get that nice coolant smell under the dash with a hint of wet carpet.

[glittle75]

youll have heat, but yeah it will leak hot coolant into the floorboards if the core itself cracks. And you have to pull the whole dash out to replace it. Thats why im saying hoses or something going to it. If it was the core itself you would smell coolant in the car, bad. all the time. If its the hoses or a connection they car be replaced fairly easy from under the hood.