Quick update, had the car back for a week but unfortunatly its broken down twice so had to call recovery out
The coolant issue was a split pipe, £325 for 4 hours labour over a £18 pipe, ouch
Then I took it out again and everything was going fine, 20 minutes into the journey, the temp gauge went up to above mid point and the radiator fan was on full blast. Recovery bought me home a second time. So another trip to the garage. Finally, thinking everything was ok, bang, another temp rise on the way home. Put the heater on full pelt and it did maintain a temp below the middle of the gauge. So at least its home.
This post is no disrespect to the previous owners, these things happen and I did expect a few issues.
However, Ive lost faith in the car, 4 journeys, 3 breakdowns. I can't keep going out in it, just hoping it will complete the journey.
If anyone wants to buy it then I am prepared to sell and cut my losses. The car is in great condition, had lots of work completed on the shell, fully loaded and lots of nice mods. Just needs someone to give it a good checkover. My only option is to keep taking it back to the garage down the road but at £300 a time, I can't sustain this. I didn't want to do this as I've wanted a V6 for years, absolutely gutted.
I wil be going back to the garage tomorrow demanding they sort this out though.