So sorry to see you are having problems with the estate. Al is right, I painted the top of the nearside wing, and gold is a bitch to match. There was a tiny mark where a flippin' fly landed on it before it was dry., So I never bothered to really polish it, intending to redo it sometime. No other work was done to any bodywork whilst I owned it.
I can't see that the HG has gone....never ever had any symptoms that suggested that. Always driven sedately, except for the spirited run around Brackley by TB.
Had I not been in a depressed state of mind with my shoulder problem, I would have put an exhaust on. The Belt was only two years old and a few thousand miles old. A new crankshaft sensor was on the cards to do. Then MOT. If my MOT man had failed it on that joint, I would have repaired it, and kept the car until whenever.