The other day and I was checking the fluids in the '95 Cav. I noticed some light oil residue on the engine. With all the worry of a blowning a head gasket, I can not help but wonder if this is the begining or is it just a normal thing? There doesn't seem to be any real loss of oil (i.e. no spotting on the driveway and I haven't added any amount of oil to the engine)

if it's out on the top check the valve cover bolts..

this is normal

1997 Cavalier Z24 4Spd Auto. Magnaflow dual exhaust.

The best description I can give is this. The oil appears just under and to the right of the shaft (the very bottom) where you would put in the oil. You know the cap that is also the dipstick. Now I make sure that the cap is on tight and secure, but I've only had the car since early December of '04. So I'm not sure if the previous owner splilled oil or if its coming from the seems.

i think we all have the same problem.. it was on my 98 and on my 99 currently.. i don't think you can really do anything about it.. you don't lose any oil (can't tell anyways).. so IMO it's not anything to really be concerned about

1997 Cavalier Z24 4Spd Auto. Magnaflow dual exhaust.

seeing that you bought the car in dec'04..you could be right about the prior owner spilling the oil and running down the side of the fill tube..you gotta eliminate 1 theory before you can move onto the next and suspect a gasket or seal leaking....best bet would be to clean the oil off real good then see if it comes back again