@koalar The primary reason I am paying someone else to do work like this is because I don't have a garage or even a drive at the minute. I will be moving house quite soon, and getting a place with a garage, but I'm reluctant to take on any remotely serious jobs myself (or anything that could easily devolve into a more complicated job) while I have to rely on on-street parking for my car. I don't have the option to start a job and then end up with a partially dismantled car crumbling on the street if/when the whole thing opens up a massive can of worms - and I'm not stupid enough to expect that a job like this is gonna be a 20 minute stroll in the park. The task right now is to get my car rolling again as quickly as possible, so I can use it for errands and stuff related to said house move. I'm very happy with the engineer I've sourced; they are considered highly competent by people in the know, and take engine work from other garages all across the North West; I'm really lucky to have them on my doorstep and be able to walk up and talk to them. I've had a good chat with them, and I have faith in them to do the needful without fudging it up, and without doing any steps that aren't needed.
