Thanks for the responses guys:
Dupleman; please define what you mean by making the car more 'driveable', I'm not quite sure I understand what you're saying here.
According to my mechanic mate, it is a beta engine. I will check for you guys ASAP though - hammering it down with rain at the moment so I'm not too keen on going outside - it's a W reg if it helps you out at all. If it's an Alpha engine though, I reckon any idea of an engine swap would be off; I don't want to have to take the car off the road for months as I don't have another spare or anything like that. Hopefully, it is a beta if I choose to go down this route.
What's the real difference in terms of performance between the two engines, same gearbox and such, but can you feel the extra power? I mean, for £200, 20 odd horsepower doesn't seem too bad bang-for-buck wise, but I'd like to know if you really notice the difference. Just out of interest how much do you think a garage would charge for the conversion?
Hopefully the suspension mods will help me out on the twisty bits which should be good. Do you think those mods will cause the car to be too 'twitchy' though?
By the sounds of things rear brake disks are out then, something I can deal with but I thought it was worth exploring the possibility anyway.
SRI/Cold Air feed seems to be the way to go then, are there any kits that you recommend or have had good experiences with? What about the other end breathing wise, are there any exhaust systems that work well with the car?
ECU shall be left alone then unless I get serious with the engine. Just how much money do you start dropping if you consider the option of fitting cams and other performance internals to the engine?
I'd probably stick with the 1.6 'box then, I was under the mistaken impression that they were identical units but as you state, NSL is 70 and I don't need more top end speed. Whilst on gearboxes, reading that 2 Litre tuning thread once more there's a possibility of extracting more RWHP through a more efficient transmission. Is this something worth doing do you think?
Forced induction is out, I'm not adverse to the idea of spending money on the car, but sums like that are serious, new car money...
Thanks again for your time.