any ideas

[fronteradiamond]

ok guys

i can get my hands on a fronty sport 20i on a r plate 93000 miles fulls ervice history for a round £200 now here the problem the guy said he was coming back from wales and oil light came on but he continued then knocking started and he stopped then said oil was all over engine but i have had alook and looks quite clean he said he not cleaned it just been stood for a month, the aa guy said to him somthing about rods ????? and towed him home i have heard it running and it knocked for the first 5 secs sounded like a diesel the it went quiet and sounded really lush,,, what you reckon should i or shouldnt i and any ideas of whats happeend

[Rifleman]

The first thing to be damaged when there is a loss of oil pressure is the big ends mate. This is where the oil has to go before anywhere else in the engine as it takes the most pressure and biggest pounding.
I would bet they are shot.
Knocking is not good, give it a miss unless you have a spare engine.

[gregster]

Would be unlikely to have done the rods....normally there is a huge hole in the side of the engine when they go...sounds more like the shells/bigends have gone...most probably fixable, but engine out job as I dont think the sump will come off in situ and it would be a biatch to do with the front axle etc in the way...
But in honesty if the lump is out, and as Rifleman said, I would be inclined to buy a good engine out of a breaker for not a lot of money and stick that in, sooner than messing with fixing that one...

Then comes the dilemma...its cheapish at £200 and would break for more....but if you repair/replace the engine then you are gonna spend probably a couple of hundred quid, and have a load of hard work...

Its questionable whether its worth all the hassle as if you shop around examples the same year can be picked up for £400ish T&T'ed and running...

If you are thinking of using as an offroader/laner, you might do better buying one thats cheap because its tatty looking but mechanically sound...