Thanks for putting my mind at rest about the crank seals, I tend to look for the worst case in every fault I have, I think im a (hypocondriact) and bad at spelling, I've read somewhere about fuel tank breather maybe bloked but I don't have the rubber tube from the tank so can't be that, like you say looks like a carb strip,it,s all a learning curve. As for clutch dragging I can't see it being that as im in neutral when it happens