looking to buy Zr 1.4

[Barry S1]

my son is looking to buy a Zr 1.4 (02 ish ) wot do we need to
look for have they any bad points to look for have seen a nice
one in Essex but head gasket is blown is this expensive to
fix car was up for about £500

thanks
Barry

[Mr2Mike]

Cost to fix depends entirely on wether the engine was severely overheated or not. If it's been overheated to the point of the head going soft and liners dropping then you need to source another engine. If the liner heights and head are ok then it's a fairly cheap fix if you can DIY it; essentially the cost of the gaskets, new coolant, new oil and filter and a timing belt kit/water pump unless they have very recently been done. Flushing out the emulsified oil from the cooling system is a pretty messy job mind.

[Barry S1]

Thanks for that i think we will look for a car
thats had it done already they seem OK apart from
head gaskets going
thanks