sepulchrave

It's a simple job, half a days work plus the head job and parts, since your timing belt kit is usable that keeps the bill down a bit but I'd still expect it to be north of £500 including VAT.

Since you've already got the belt off, getting the head off is pretty straightforward so I would simply replace the bent valves and refit the head, time it up and carry on.

There is only one hole in the camshaft through which the pin fits into the cylinder head to lock the cam in place, when I last did this job the pin pushed right in until the head was tight up against the sprocket. You're not locking the sprocket, only the cam and the crank, the sprocket needs to be loose to allow the belt to be positioned and tensioned correctly, only once all that is done can the 3 bolts be tightened and the locks removed before starting it. I can't see what's going on with everything slathered in white paint like that, you don't need to paint anything if the cam and crank are locked before fitting and tensioning the belt.

You need to set the engine to TDC using the the tiny arrow on the crank sprocket then check you can reinsert the locking pin in the cam, if not you need to get that pin back in then loosen the 3 sprocket bolts so you can turn the crank until it's at TDC before locking the crank there then tightening the sprocket bolts. Engine should start once you've removed the locks.

If you loosen the hinge bolts which are XZN you'll find they float like a door striker and can be moved in all directions.

There's no need, it's just mineral oil, it doesn't absorb moisture or get very hot or contaminated, just check the level and top up if necessary.

This happened to me and the hinges turned out to be ok, they had become misaligned due to the impact.

No, I think you've covered everything, I don't think you're being dramatic the garage has taken a perfectly good car, ****ed it up and charged you for the privilege, has the new spring been seated correctly? Write down all the issues, take it back and get them to sort it FOC, make sure you get a courtesy car too.

You need to take it back, point out the failings and tell them it doesn't drive straight and to sort it out or you'll get an independent inspection and complain to trading standards.

Did you replace the DMF when the clutch was done or not?

Ok, so it's the gearbox input shaft bearing rather than the DMF. Pulling the vacuum will prevent the EGR from working and put the CEL on which is an MOT failure, I'm not sure what you're hoping to achieve other than that.

You can't delete the EGR on a BLT without putting on the CEL. The vibration is likely the DMF and putting on the AC raises the idle slightly.

Good choice, the 1.9 is super reliable, the 1.2 notsomuch.

Most airbag sensor faults are due to condensation corrosion in the multiway ECU connector, everything is routed to that little box.

The sensor is inside the airbag ECU which is attached to the transmission tunnel in front of the ashtray.

No it won't work. There is a repair kit available containing new chain, sprockets and tensioners, fitting it will fix all the problems.

Burning oil is bad for the O2 sensor, it cokes it up, you'll need to replace it.

It's 20 years old, the valve stem seals will be hard and crispy which means you'll be burning oil whenever the throttle is shut.

I use my headlights when it's dark, I don't really bother otherwise. I live in the countryside so when it gets dark there's no street lighting to interfere with my headlights, townies need brighter headlights so they can blind each other under street lit conditions and in car parks.

It's more a way of comparing the cylinders, all four should read similar values.

Crankcase pressure, which increases as an engine ages due to piston ring blowby.

At that mileage the engine will be breathing heavily, not much to be done about it other than to clean out the breather and inlet systems properly.

They only make the SE in the blue. If you want a different colour then it'll just be a VRS.

You only need new gaiters if yours are split or missing, you'll get new nuts with the shocks and your existing bump stops may not be needed, Bilsteins come with their own internal stops. Which leaves the bearing and top mount which you say you're replacing. You really only need to replace stuff that's actually damaged or worn.

Blimey, so they are!