Where abouts would I take my car to have the engines condition tested??
Is there a way you can run tests yourself or is it a 'need to know what your doing' thing??

basically want to know how the rings are, if the compression has dropped to much, how the bottom end is going mainly.

The motor makes some rattly noises but im putting that down to a buggered exhaust at the moment, and having shimmed rockers. If the motor is stuffed i will drop a low km's long engine in but i dont want to do that if i dont have to.

Also what should be done, compression tests etc etc?

Test for compression. 146psi is the minimum. But you also need all cylinders within 10%. If it is below 146psi then engine is classed as worn but if all readings are similar it would still be servicable. To test for bearing wear, obviously noise but another test is oil pressure. Hot at 2000rpm needs to be 280kPa (40psi).

You would then do cooling system pressure test (any 1/2 decent radiator shop would do this for free). If all these pass you can assume it is a good engine.

Of course the only real definative test is to tear the engine down and measure all clearances, etc and make sure they are in spec. But that costs a little bit of money.

cheers
Scott

you can get a leakdown test done ,it will tell you if your rings are shagged or not. should cost you around $60 to get done

So basically i should get the following

leakdown test
compression test
cooling system test
oil pressure test

Could I go to any decent workshop and have this done??

Just about any old salt will be able to do all this for you. Best to go to a Ma and Pa type mechanic as say Kmart or a tyre centre posing as a mechanics often don't have people that are well versed in reading engines.

If you can find an old grizzled mechanic that used to race or work on his own race cars, not only will you get lots of excellent stories but they will know their stuff too. I see it all too often with friends that they go to a mechanic who charges a fortune and always has bad news. It really annoys me when they get charged $600 for next to nothing. "Yeah sorry to say but the franjit was busted and we had to replace it" kind of thing.

But they may send you out to a radiator shop to get the cooling system pressure tested as they often don't have the pressure tester themselves.