Thanks guys, for those who aren't aware I'll quickly list the issues I've had in the past.
I bought the car with 100k in in 2007. At 128k the timing belt skipped, this was because at the 80k belt change they checked rather than replaced the idler pulley. When it disintegrated it wrecked the engine. I bought another engine for £2k ish and my local garage fitted it. After 5 days the tensioner bolt broke and it again destroyed itself. The engine company took it back and it was gone weeks, when I got the car back it wasn't running right, and the inside was filthy, wheels damaged etc. I ended up spending another £1500 locally to get it running well with new injectors etc. £4.5k later I finally had a car which ran well, but I had no idea of the history of the engine. The car now has 177k on it, and for all I know that engine is probably on double that.
I'm not going down the road of putting another engine in, been there done that. The car is worth maybe £3k absolute tops in running order. I could easily clear £1k breaking it and if I spend £2k replacing the engine (which I could easily do) there would be guarantees. What if I do that and it still needs a new fuel pump? No thanks. I think the belt has skipped because the lifters have broken and jammed the camshaft perhaps?
Chris, the engine has low oil pressure, spending £x on new cams etc isn't worth it when I suspect it's just an old and tired unit. Even with a good engine in, maybe next week the gearbox etc might go.
If and when I break it I'll let you know. I'll be buying a runabout in the mean time.
