yeah but at this stage it would cost me £80 to do a headgasket and inspect it, should i drive it a few miles and have to take the head off it cost me a fair few quid more with more new gasket etc etc, rather than running the risk of them leaking.

The engine was built about 8yrs ago, but only done about 5k miles since its been built, so its been stood alot of its time.