HELP: Buying a 91' GT

[christine_lives!]

I am turning to the collective wisdom/BS that makes this forum so great, many thanks in advance.

There is a 91' GT, 5-SPD, w/130k, Hatchback for sale. Seller is listing it at $650. I haven't gone to look at it. It is a curious sale, and I wanted to see if I could recruit your help in finding ways to diagnose everything before I buy.

The car is parked in a Monro parking lot. It doesn't look like it was towed there given where it is parked. The seller claims his friend looked at it and not Monro, it just happened to break down in the parking lot. His friend states that the timing belt is broken and nothing else is wrong.

So I'm thinking maybe this guy was going to have his shocks/brakes done and the car committed suicide in the parking lot. OR the car was running rich and making a horrible sound and the belt finally went from slipping broken teeth. It should turn over, and the fluids should look uncontaminated. If I pull the plugs and theyre fouled, I should be able to diagnose slipped belt.

I just need ideas on things to check, given that the belt is broken. Any ideas?

[christine_lives!]

Really, what I want to rule out is thrown rod, dead motor.

[concealer404]

Take the belt cover off and see if it's broken....

Do a compression test... if the rod is broken, you'll get a really weird reading on the cylinder that the rod is broken in.

[Pineapple]

Can't do compression test if belt is broken.
You can remove valve cover to see how it looks inside.
You can crank the engine. If the starter spin fast, you got broken belt.
Drain the oil and drop the pan if you could.

[christine_lives!]

Dropping the pan involves a lot of disassembly. Draining the oil does make sense because I should be able to find coolant in it. I was thinking the compression test doesnt work out because I can't get the engine warm. I guess I can also do an AC pressure check.