I was working on removing my emissions on my 87 n/a (cleaning things as I go and trying to get an idea of how the previous owner treated it) and came to the EGR valve. I took it off and looked at the bottom of it. There was about a half-inch of carbon built up on the base of the valve, as well as a very thick coating on the hole that goes down into the engine.
What sort of terribly ominous tale does this tell?

(Sorry for lack of a picture...I immediately cleaned the hole and the valve as best I could)

 

EGR systems do that, doesn't matter how the car was treated it will clog up with carbon over time.

 

Yup. Kyrasis6 is correct. Because the temperature of the exhaust gas drops so much by the time it reaches the egr valve it begins to revert back to a carbon state and over time it just builds up. It happens to 99.9% of cars that have an egr system.

 

Ok good. I still don't think the previous owner treated it well though haha. Just a feeling.