from what i know flatties cracked between the cyl and the ex valve. i think tough to fix but if the block is sound would be possible.
Me being a cheap farmboy know that you can get away for quite a while running alternative coolant (may not be the safest) but my dad ran diesel in a old gas tractor that was eating water . worked fine smoked a little more but am shure it wouldnt cause any further mechanical wear to the motors innards .
the biggest worry to me isnt when its running but when its sitting water in a nice shiny innner cyl bore is a bad thing plus the iron rings also dont like it .
We once had a old white 2270 150 hp? tractor whos rings would not seat after a rebuild it sucked over a gallon of oil an hour.
we had already sunk enough money into this slug so dad and I rigged up a 5 gallon oil pail and restrictor onto the side of the rig and totally abused the poor thing for two seasons. filling the 5 gallon pail with 40 weigth about every 4 hours. It was not a full time use unit maybe 60-80 hours a year doing some spring pre work and harrowing. I liked that tractor cause it just wouldnt die and once it had been rebuilt felt like it had 200 hp . the oild was also always really clean
Definitly hillbilly
It got dad through a couple lean years back in the mid 80s though compared to spending big bucks on a replacement unit