Hotrod Lincoln speaks highly of the little borescope cameras they sell on eBay or Amazon nowadays. For $40 or so you can buy one that hooks up to a laptop and/or smartphone and peek down the spark plug holes. Might be worth it before pulling the head.

The alleged history of the truck doesn't seem to support a catastrophic water- pushing event. I like bartamos' theory about condensation and tilt. Or maybe some other reason that condensation tended to concentrate on that side of engine.

Does your valve cover have a breather cap at the front? Maybe some water found its way in there at some point.



1951 3100