Well peeps, took the trusty Pajero in for its MOT today...
after about 15 minutes the tester came in and explained the problems, went out to the ramp to have a look and the surface corrosion appeared to be more sever than i thought.
inner sills were completely shot (mud flicks up onto the sidesteps and rots it out), arches were gone and covered with just the plastic trim, chassis legs were rusted through over the rear axle/body mounts, what i thought was a minor leak of oil from the diff input seal turned out to be a ruptured breather from the diesel tank,
even put 2 new tyres and a reversing light bulb in it half an hour before the test, ended up taking it back to cosford and dumping it in the car park, transfering my insurance to the FTO to get me back home. only bought the car about 3 months ago so looks like im going to be breaking the Paj and getting something else, in the mean time it means i am without a tow car and with an XT and a scrap FTO to collect im up shit creek
looks like its going to have to be an 'imagination christmas' this year... sods law aint it? rant over.