Guys! Good news!
I popped the valve cover off and very similar to me, this thing looks like shit on the outside but has a heart of gold.
I was honestly expecting sludge everywhere lol. This gives me hope as I've been stressing super hard over the past couple of days about the appearance of this motor.
I did end up taking a half day and I borrowed my friends soda blaster. I'm going to see how that works on the oxidation. Worth a shot.
