Quick update: my old motor has finally gone...expired, it is no more 😥
Went for a short ride and the oil light came on again, doing maybe 60 mph in top gear. I slowed down to walking speed and limped home, luckily not far. The engine rattled and banged for a few seconds, then the oil light went out and the noises stopped: not for long though!
Today I tried it again, started up, seemed to be all well, then it started belching out grey smoke from both exhausts. Shortly after the red light of death returned...so it seems to be very very terminal 😢
It looks like thrashing the old girl when low on oil was a very bad move.
So! Onwards and upwards, time to fit my 28k miles engine, how hard can an engine swap be? It's only held in by 4 bolts after all....