Ok, so I got to my brother's workshop, (he shares workshop with car mechanic) car mechanic was working today (not usually on sat) and he took over! did the job in about 20 mins with interuptions!
no tick tick tappets any more...... however we seem to have upset something slightly as the idle hunts down, then jumps up again occasionaly.....ISV need cleaning? The timing is ok and all vacuum hoses seem fine as well.....?
Finished refurb and polish on the alloys today as well, here is a pic... getting tyres on monday...Eage F1's.

They are some old school ATS 5 spokes 15x7j et38, the logo part of the center caps were shot, hence the cheeky VW stickers.. lol.