72 Super Edelbrock Upgrade

[rharris]

Well, I've been itching to throw on an edelbrock - here goes. The truck was mostly stock with a 307 2bl set up. Yes, I know I probably should have left it alone. No, I did not. Two of my buddies and I skipped school senior year to throw a whatever we could find four barrel set up on my 79 Camaro. It worked great, but after it would set an hour, I had to dump fuel in the carb manually to get it started. So back to the 2 barrel it went. Here I am, 20 years later with a little more cash to but new equipment. So, since there is always a tremendous amount of help on here I figured i'd share the project. I started out asking a few questions about the stock set-up, so I would have somewhat of an idea when the new stuff arrived. Thanks to all who helped on that. Per the previous owner, the engine had never been apart. 36,000 true miles If you can take an old fella's word for it - which I did. Anyway, the intake came off rather easy. When I had it off I discovered what to me seems like a tremendous amount of sludge. The other week I had a stuck lifter and it tapped pretty good, it cooled off over night and was quiet as a good little 307 is. I changed the oil and haven't had any more issues. I now see why the lifter may have been stuck. So, this is basically my first time at this. A few questions:

1) - How much sludge is too much? Some is gooey, some is harder. I'm worried about it getting into places it shouldn't be. I have cleaned as much as I could with a rag.
2) - I learned that when an intake is changed, antifreeze goes everywhere! Any tricks to avoiding that? Some seeped over into the top of the engine bay, is this a problem? Obviously I will change the oil after its all back together and run for a little.
3) Any good additive to break down the sludge and remove it?

Bear with me, it's my first time and I wanted to do it at home instead of taking to the shop. Gotta start somewhere, right? I'm looking forward to the hints. I have three boys that I need to pass on the past generations tips and hints to. I don't know what to say about this generation coming up - if there isn't an app for it, they don't seem to know how to do it! Great kids and all but sheesh!

Parts on the brown truck headed my way - 1406 600cfm edelbrock, 2701 performer intake and necessary hardware, summit HEI distributor (that should be interesting), and new valve covers.