We pulled the head off Susan's 1980 245 today and WHAT a MESS!!!
The valve chamber is full of tan slime, the crankcase was full of
mostly water, and #1 cylinder was full of water. We snuffled the water
out of it and ran the piston up and down a couple times and decided the
cylinder was in fairly good shape.
This is pretty much of a "beater" car so I don't want to do more work than
necessary. I am pretty sure the crankcase has some slime in it also; at
least we drained a bunch of it out.
The headgasket was definitely shot.
If I have a valve job done will they also adjust the valve lash?
I haven't done this on an OHC engine so it is all strange to me.
I did happen to have a 10mm Alum wrench (bought at a yard sale a couple
years ago with a set of mixed sizes) so getting the head off was not too hard.
If I get the top end taken care of, head resurfaced and (maybe) valve job,
do you think a couple oil changes in quick succession would get the rest
of the slime out of the engine? I really don't want to drop the pan if it
can be avoided at all.

Your educated input will be much appreciated.
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George Downs, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Central US