Sludge/carbon build up

[japslapsilvia]

bought a motor from a vendor here. outside looks great. BUT i opened the valve cover and there is a LOT of black carbon burnt oil etc. now the thing is the cam lobes look great no scoring or heat marks.

also the motor came with no spark plugs which leads me to believe that a compression check was done. i will have to confirm with the seller.

i also removed the thermostat housing and its SUPER clean whatever coolant that was left was clean. There appears to be no scaling or rust in the thermostat housing. i wil have to remove upper coolant neck to check it as well, and the pump

no my question is what would you guys determine as being bad or good in terms of sludge/carbon under the valve cover? pics would help.

what can i do as far as cleaning it? can i or should i use carb cleaner? honestly looks like motor sat for a while and or oil wasnt changed frequently...its really black....

motor is a black top SR

unfortunatly i do not have pics at the moment. i will post them tomorrow when i get home.

Thanks!