Hi all  can you tell i'm happy ,  got my hands on James's Ranchero  and will start the overhaul asap,
well,, for now enough to get it on a new mot and hope that orange thing appears in the sky again soon.

now, i have a basic knowledge of cars and i mean basic, its been some years since i last seen a distributor cap so i'm not ashamed to say i'm gonna need some help here and there through Q&A on the forum and with an incentive of a nice cuppa tay and some batterd chips is on offer for anyone that wants to drop by and offer their wisdom and a pair of rolled up sleeves
pics will follow and i'll start a post in members buggys of the progress,
list of things to get done or fix so far,,
crack in crank pully 
oil leak from back end fingers crossed it looks like just a seal 
power drain when lights and indicators are used together 
cough and splutter revs die on a cold start up,, maybe a clean on plugs etc will fix
i'm sure there will be more problems as i look closer,
still happy coz you wouldn't have it any other way if you want to make something your own 
Rich 

You're living in the right area for support and sympathy although it sounds like you knew exactly what you were doing when you purchased a buggy. I look forward to your struggles, growing list of issues and updates. It will all be worth it when you roll up to the MBC meeting and receive their welcome. 

crank pulley swap is a simple job, oil leak back end as by the bell housing as you say is probably crankshaft oil seal so 1/2" drive 36mm socket and flywheel locking device gets that done.
power drain is a charge circuit check may be just a bad connection alternator or dynamo?
cough n splutter give it a full service plugs points, timing, valve clearances, carb strip n clean and tune it up.
other problems there could be many but Wallsall is in the MBC  area so buggers are about and not far from volksmagic and kingfishers for parts and chats

Ta Hugh, will be at my first meet asap,

half a day at work tmorra so looks like a trip over to volksmagic for some bits and bobs then