Classic mini - coolant in intake ports?!

I've had a stage 1 kit from mini spares laying around and thought the holiday weekend would be a great time to install it. 

1980 mini 1000 (998)

All of the nuts and bolts came off nicely, which made me worry! Then, when I pulled the stock cast iron intake/exhaust manifold there were little puddles of coolant sitting there in both of the intake ports in the head...
 

since the manifold isn't connected to the coolant system, I'm assuming this means a crack in the head or head gasket?

The car seemed to be running fine, what do you think? The coolant level was down a bit when I checked it tonight. 

Are you sure that it's coolant? How did you determine that, just from the color?

In reply to MiniDave :

Yeah, assuming based on the color. Didn't taste it or anything. 
 

what theory is leading you to that question? What else could it be?

I did use pb blaster, but that is an orangey color  

I borrowed a pressure tester from advance and have that on the radiator now...

I have fuel that is that color.

Hmm... I do use a non ethanol fuel, but never noticed if it had a color to it. 
 

I checked and the fuel in the carb float chamber is clear. Putting some into the cast iron intake manifold yields a yellowish color. 

To me it looks like oil, since some oils have a green/gold tint like that.  Either engine oil or maybe carb dashpot oil.  Wipe it up with a paper towel and see if it feels oily or watery, and if it has an oil smell or a sweet coolant smell.  

If you taste it you'll know what it is immediately!  

A tiny taste won't hurt you and you'll know right away.....I'm also thinking oil.

I had just changed the oil, but for reference here is a shot of a drop of that oil in the port. I don't think that is what it was. 
 

the dashpot oil has a red tint to it, again don't think it was that. 
 

I've had the cooling system pressurized to 18lbs for over 4 hours and the pressure hasn't changed and no leaks have shown up. 
 

scoped it and all the pistons had similar carbon on top so, don't think they are getting steam cleaned either. 
 

Who the heck knows at this point. 

You really need to taste it. Does this Mini have a brake booster? Could it be ingesting brake fluid via that system? Brake fluid is bitter like coolant but without the sugary sweetness. 

Are you using a reusable air filter element?

Any chance they color matches the oil used on the air filter last time it was washed and re-oiled?

Nope, paper filter. 

That looks like Penn oil from my angle. Penn Grade, not Pennzoil. Maybe the valve cover is leaking (probably) and since the manifold wasn't all that tight it was leaking in. 

Take a taste, it'll strengthen your relationship with the car.