Alright, I have a bit of an unfortunate update....
So with the initial focus being on the front-end of the car (i.e the engine), it was only on Sunday that I actually had a proper inspection of it. I wanted to go through everything methodically, to get an understanding of how easy it would be to get the car through compliance.
Everything was looking alright, couple perishing bushings but nothing to severe.... until I got to the boot....
My friend had remarked on the day the car arrived, while I was washing it, that the rear bumper had clearly been resprayed due to its higher level of metallic fleck in the paint that it appeared to have. I agreed with him, but didn't think much of it - its a 21 year old car at the end of the day....
However, I decided it would be a good idea to pull the boot's rubber seal off to look for any signs of corrosion (as compliance would do too). I then noticed that the passenger side corner of the boot has clearly been repaired, and then it hit me - the bumper was not even close to being flush with the lip of the boot. Comparing it to my silver car is startling - this car has clearly had a decent shunt up the back at some point in its life.
The bumper doesn't even clip in, as the clipping points have been pushed back, and you can quite clearly see the structure of the car is pushed in/dented.
Compliance definitely won't like that!
So it seems I'll be using it for parts. Bit of a bummer but its done 266,000km, clearly had a decent life, and will probably help keep 5+ W8s on the road globally with its bits (have had heaps of interest in parts from America & Canada).
Here are some photos of the damage:
My silver W8 for reference:
The black car:
Pretty obvious bend....
Welded repair in left corner & you can also see where the two metal plates overlap it's been pushed out about 5mm, compared with the other side.