They were black and sooted,a little wet, but gaps were fine and no damage to the electrode etc quick clean and brand new again.
Will definately try Stu's carb
Im office based today so got the time to mess about and read as always, its a pain in the arse when these things happen, but its also a great learning curve!
Never happy unless things are spot on, and it grates at me if i dont understand or cant sort something myself, hence constant 'what about this' 'what about that'