Justint,
didn't those old fashioned motoring magazines sometimes make references to engines 'running like a sewing machine', with the implication being that the engines in question were running rather nicely?

As someone who's not just old fashioned, but also qualifies for the shortened version of that phrase, it seems to me that you've posed a question which is nigh on impossible to answer without having the benefit of an accompanying audio file.

Without one of those, it's going to be nothing more than a lottery to distinguish between whether your engine is on its last legs or barely run in...

ken.

( As an example < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewhJFNYlr8o > )

The engine does seem to be very very good despite the funny noise I must say

I've a strange noise coming from behind the dashboard. It's almost as if the speedo cable is rasping on the outer cable although the needle is working quite happily. It seems to begin once over 30mph and is just a tad irritating. The only way I can describe it is that it sounds like a ball bearing inside a 35mm film container, shaken vigorously. Just another thing to look into.

There is a true story from the 1970's that at the Halewood Ford factory, the workers would put a handful of ball bearings into chassis members of cars on the production line. Just for fun or course.

Turns out is was a manifold leak!

It just shows that you can't diagnose engine noises by email.