i tell you what guys, without this forum i would be lost, as would many i think.
thanks for the link john it is appreciated.
going to get the hood fixed today, i have plenty of CSM and resin etc left from re-decking my boat so will get the small repair done, after i purchased the engine the other day i got a call from the previous owner to say i hadnt lifted a small plastic bag of spares that were to go with the engine, there was a pair of coils and i thought i had scored but as i said in a previous comment there is a crack in one of them and you can see the spark arcing to ground.
what i do love about this little engine is it has the charging reg/rec fitted which my 1970's suzuki doesnt so i can now run the fish finder and vhf without worrying about the battery going down,
thanks again for all the info guys,