Smoking 989cc Cuores and Sirions?

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I've seen a few Cuores and Sirions advertised on Ebay and the like which all seem to be suffering from smoking engines. Has anyone got any experience of this? I quite fancy buying one to satisy my "weekend mechanic" urges... I know it's normally the valves/guides/oil seals or piston rings, just wondered if there is a common problem? Thanks

Smoking EJ-DE Engines

Your thought processes are correct there is indeed an issue with the three cylinder engines which I think is due mainly to poor servicing i.e. not changing oil regularly and perhaps needing a much higher quality oil. I thought my problem was valve oil seals but even though mine were as hard as concrete, they were not letting through enough oil to make the amount of smoke the car was pushing out - oddly more cold than hot - anyway removing the pistons [this can be done without removing the engine in a Sirion at least] I noted that the oil control rings were stuck in the piston - especially on number three engine. Replacement was straightforward and the car stops smoking - I now use synthetic oil which I replace frequently. I would say that any smoky EJ-DE engine is piston rings - the bores do not wear and the pistons were very serviceable. However, the spares are expensive as is the Three Bond gasket cement needed on the camshaft journals and sump.
Easy job except for getting the tappets quiet.

I have just rebuilt a sirion

I have just rebuilt a sirion EJ motor and indeed the tappets are really noisy, well i believe its the tappets. I put the head back on and did the timing, wound the motor around about 50 times and re-checked the timing, and it's all good, cranked the engine with no spark plugs in it, all good, put the plugs in, and it fired almost immediately, idling fine, but strange tapping coming from the top of the engine, I pulled the rocker cover off and inspected the cams and the tops of the valves, all looked good. ran it again for about 5 mins, and the noise is still there. Concerned i pulled the timing belt back off, and the cams off, re-checked the timing and put it all back together, fired again straight away, but the noise is still there, so i'm assuming it's the tappets. But i can't see anywhere where i can adjust anything. Another thought i had was that i got the head machined and i had this thought that the amount taken off was too much for the valve clearance and the valves were tapping the pistons, but it seems to run fine, no smoke or problems, just the tapping noise. Any ideas?