Just spoke to my mechanic & mentioned about filling water up like every 2 week, so he's guna have alook at the piping at the front that's got abit of that White crusty bit which is water onit, which could be the head gasket but we shall see....
Coolant Temp Sensor been done?
The back firing sounds like your sparking is all to f**k, it's fuel going into the exhaust then the spark firing causes it. Are you sure this mechanic is of any use?
but also looking at same engine conversion now so if anyone knows of anyone selling a 2.0 8v engine on the cheap let me know please... keeping all options open now to be honest.
That'll have electronic ignition too, I wonder if the feed is up to scratch, Have you tried a new dizzy?
& this will help how?
problems are electrical based, not mechanical
You've kinda answered a good possible, I would get the dizzy off and try another one. Not the cap, that would just cause either bad starting or a bit rough running. I mean get the thing out, why can't he get it off? Even the most crappiest, hard to reach, awkward parts on cars still come off.
Tell him to get violent, you might like him but seriously, how can it take all day? I don't know what he's doing but even if it's stuck it should be off in an hour. Bolts out, penetrating fluid, fag break, big grips, stillsons etc, give it a little twist to break the corrossion and pull the fecker off.
deffinitely sounds electrical not mechanical... trust us
theres obvious things to check like...
check the fuel pump has a solid 12v and a solid earth, if it runs measure these before and after when it wont start...
swap the fuel pump relay theyre only a couple of quid
check the coils working by arcing it to the head, not ideal but it WILL tell you if the coils working properly. or if the main lead is raj'd
check crank signal... download 'autodata' and itll tell you how to manually check all the electrical system