Cooked Coolant(??) and Kissed Pistons

[Jason Ball <madmac@domain.elided>]

I'm in the process of pulling my Milano Donor car's heads because I
found oil in the coolant........

After much yanking and banging donor motor finally let its 4-5-6 head
loose.  The inner head stud between the 5 & 6 cylinders was coated with
crusty white stuff which prevented the head from just sliding off.
The head gasket however,  pulled right off, completely intact.
Underneath the head gasket,  I saw that the outside of the piston liners
were caked with more white crusty stuff.  (cooked coolant????)

- ---How or why would a head stud get completely coated with cooked
coolant???
- ---Is this a sign of a crack some where deep in the head??
- --- Is the white crusty stuff on the outside of the liners a sure sign
of massive overheating (leading to warping and/or cracking) or is this
normal on motor with a blown head gasket?

On the other side of the block,  the 1-2-3 head slid right off to reveal
carbon coated piston heads with shiny little half moons where the intake
valves had been kissing the pistons.  I had noticed that the cam timing
on that 1-2-3 side had been a notch or two off but thought little of it
because the compression was still good (193-195-190)   After lightly
scraping away the carbon surrounding the "half moons",  I could detect
just a hint of an impression that the valves left.

- ---Should I consider myself  lucky (somewhat) or has there been some
real damage done here????
- ---Should I continue messing with this motor (101K) or should I give up
on it and rebuild the heads on my original motor? (170K, 185-195PSI and
leaky valve stem seals)

Any thoughts, comments or  suggestions greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Jason Ball
Austin, Texas
87 Milano Silver (smokes, leaks and jiggles)
87 Milano Gold (donor car) <brake booster/MC/pedalbox available

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