so Jerry, what you're saying is, he first found the plugs damaged and the manifold bolts loose, then did the easy fix, and after that he burned the pistons? because of a vacuum leak?
if I understand that order correctly, that is pretty much what will have happened to me. been driving top speed (about 65 mph) with a big load, running a bit hot, and then it all shut down. the first thing I found was a broken manifold gasket (= vacuum leak I'd say (?)).
I'm curious, did you find any damage done to the engine internals? my guess is that there'd be no residue from the hole in the piston, the hole melted but I think the molten metal would not come apart from the piston.
I'll pull the oil pain on wednesday or thursday, when my piston gets in at NAPA. am planning to clean that very thoroughly, but my guess is that should be all I need to do
