Hey guys, I am new to the Honda world as I recently picked up a 2004 Honda Accord with the 3.0 in it. I bought it from my neighbor for $1,000. The motor runs well but had a pretty substantial valve cover leak on the front bank of cylinders. Obviously the first thing I did was replace the valve cover gaskets on both banks. However given that the leak had been going on for so long and that the car had sat for quite a while with the oil covering the converter and manifold, there was quite a bit of smoke when you started up the car and tried to run it. I did my best to clean off the oil as much as I could ( brake cleaner degreasers etc) and was able to get most of the visible oil off the front Bank manifold and catalytic converter/ heat shield. However, there is still smoke coming off the top of it when you run it. It appears to be coming from the inside of the cat as it's coming out of the area around where the catalytic converter meets the engine. I have been scared to run the car for more than a minute as I am afraid of a fire starting. (Not sure If this is irrational or not)

My question is, should I just pull the catalytic converter and clean it to get the oil out of the inside of it? Or am I good to run it and just let the oil burn off.

Thanks for any input here!