Oil capacity vs. dipstick reading

Hi folks, I know the topic of oil capacity and proper dipstick reading has been thoroughly discussed(I have read several threads), however, I haven't seen anyone report a particular experience, so I wanted to ask. Forgive me if this is old hat....

I have a freshly rebuilt motor in my '78 US spec GTS. one of the condensers failed, and an entire bank went dead, and I believe forced fuel past the rings(smelled fuel at the dipstick), and thus was advised by shop to change oil now. I have been taking dipstick readings with the car hot, 10-15 seconds after shutting off, and it reads almost at the maximum line. My oil pressure gauge reads 85 when cold, and once hot, hovers around 85 when throttling and ~50 or so when idling and oil is hot.

I went to drain my oil, and wanted to see the capacity; it was just about 1.5 gallons, so around 6 quarts. This seems low. I know some oil will be retained in the motor, but 3- quarts seems unlikely. Is this normal? And what would be the appropriate fill method to avoid overfilling? Thanks for the help!

 

Thanks for the help, ya'll. @yelcab no, this was from the block plug, towards the front of the car.

So here's the blow by blow of what I did this week, hopefully this points towards a possible solution:

1-leveled car on 4 jack stands of equal height
2-drained engine oil(not transaxle oil) to a basin. gave it an hour to drain fully, there were no drips left. pulled oil filter. gave it another 20 minutes.
3-emptied basin into 2 1-gallon jugs. as you see, the contents were somewhere in the 6-7 quarts range.(photos attached).
4-wiped dipstick. reseated dipstick.
5-filled car at oil fill point in rear valve cover with precisely 8 quarts of Penn SAE 30 break in oil(still only have ~100-150 miles on fresh motor).
6-checked dipstick. level was PRECISELY AT MID POINT OF MIN AND MAX!
7-reseated dipstick, checked immediately again. see photo, oil level shows as well past max.(photo attached)

I haven't ran the car yet, will do later today or tomorrow. I don't know if I am experiencing some "wicking" at the dipstick, or something I'm not familiar with. I feel like a doofus, in that this is in no way my first classic car, but I have never struggled with a car this much to get accurate oil readings on a regular basis.

One thing that may help me here would be to get a read on ideal oil pressure gauge readings, at cold start as well as when the oil is at temperature. Would love to hear what you're cars are reading. thanks folks
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks @Steve Magnusson . In this instance, overworrying is not a problem for me, once I can be confident with the oil level measuring, I can put it to bed. I'll run the car, and see what the dipstick tells me.