[Forbear]

Further information: I can confirm that the crankshaft bolt was loose. Apparently the compressor that drives the rattle gun had been turned off without my knowledge - my fault for not checking.

And I think my previous question about interference has been answered. I tightened the crank bolt to the point where it could grab the pulley and carefully rotated it until I came to an obstruction in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. I can only conclude that this means it is an interference engine.

So now, and this is a bit desperate, could it be that when the crank and cams become disconnected, will the cams immediately settle into a comfortable state of equilibrium and therefore not hit pistons? I don't recall hearing any metallic noises when the engine stopped.

Or am I dreaming?