what about the 1.6 stuff from the sport ka ould any of that work?
Bung in a SportKa engine complete?
The early KAs used HCS lumps with leccy goodies. Surely this means you could fit the mechanically similar 1600 xflow engine from a mk1 XR2 without too much bother?
Ditch the fancy fuel and ignition shit and run it on carbs and dizzy.
Of course the MOT man might moan about emissions..
For £900 what about a CVH conversion? EFI 1600 or similar?
Dunno what the custom mounts and mods would cost to fit it but the engines are virtually free these days if you can find one left in the scrappy.