Never had it happen but cam gears routinely wear to the point of
gearlessness and the timing chain to the point of being sloppier than a
sloppy thing. I suppose it would be quite possible to go that little bit
further (in fact I'm not sure that I haven't heard of it) that the slop
coincides with the gearlessness and jumps ...

Unlikely? Plausible I'd suggest.

Generally knackered? Quite possibly.

Allow a few hundred quid for a *good* s/h engine ... is the rest worth
the money you're going to pay?

well, if you have another engine and the rest looks good, then that's your
major worry sorted.  However, I repeat my comment that if it requires
minimal work on the engine then why isn't he doing the work, so as to be
able to sell it as a "good runner"?  

I reckon the engine's shagged.  the fact that it was a recon 3 years ago
means next-to-nothing unless a) you know it was a reputable recon, not just
a cosmetic cheapo job and b) that it's been looked after and servived
correctly since.  Oh and c) how many miles since it was done.

I tend to the view that one or more of a), b) or c) are not optimal.

I dunno what Oz prices are like.  if the current price is fair for the
vehicle and condition, with a shagged engine, then go for it, especially if
you have an engine to slot in.  Then if the engine turns out to be
repairable easily, you get a bargain, if not, by the time you put your
engine in, it's still a fair price.  can't really see in that kind of
picture what the important bits of body structure etc are like.

www.rpiv8.com

That site has serious spelling issues & crap grammar! But, it does appear to have some good info for a
new V8 owner!

Nige