SPARES OR REPAIR. PLEASE READ FULL ADVERT. POOR COSMETIC CONDITION, UNDERBODY RUST, EMISSIONS FAILURE, IGNITION FAULT. I bought this last July from a lovely couple in Margate who had owned it for 25 years. I sorted out a few issues, like a seized ABS pump, steering fluid leak and cracked soldering behind the vent control buttons. I also spent a week wrapping it in black premium wrap. I also patched a bad spot of corrosion at the nearside rear jacking point with resin and glass fibre (see MOT advisory). Then it failed its MOT on emissions. (Looking back at the service history, the car actually developed this emissions issue sometime in 2018 or 2019, and the local MOT tester simply cheated by putting the car through as a non-catalyst vehicle; he didn't even hide the emissions test reports.) So I replaced the spark plugs, air filter, engine oil, catalytic converter, lambda sensor; checked and adjusted the valve clearances; used a bottle of fuel system cleaner. And it just failed again. I checked cylinder compression and it was fine. At that point I finally checked the timing, and it turned out that the timing belt had skipped a tooth (or been installed incorrectly). That explains why the engine felt so under-powered. So I replaced the timing belt, balancer belt and tensioners, and timed the engine with a timing light. By this time I had bought a Gunson gastester, so was able to check the emissions myself. Still too high. I found a crack in the exhaust manifold, and patched it with Gun Gum. Still too high. I checked the MAP sensor, IAT sensor, fuel pressure and fuel pressure regulator. Eventually I took the distributor cap off and found the points corroded, so decided to make one last ditch effort to fix it by replacing the rotor and cap. Unfortunately I forgot that I left the cap off, and when I next cranked the engine, it wouldn't start. And...it hasn't started since. I checked the ignition coil resistance and it seemed fine. So I bought a new igniter, and it made no difference - still no spark at all. I have now checked the igniter, and it is not switching the coil to ground. So cranking the engine with the distributor cap off seems to have wrecked something further upstream in the ignition system, perhaps the CYL/TDC/CRANK sensor or even the ECU. It is going to be picked up by an auto recycling company on Tuesday, unless someone takes it away by Sunday. By the way, if it sells for the asking price, I will still be losing five times that amount.