I'll share so you can all laugh.
Looking at a mates computer I fixed the current problem and then thought I had another stick of RAM he could use. I put it in and it wasn't really hard to get in place. Turned on the computer......what's that smell????
Yes I'd put DDR2 into a DDR1 slot, bad lighting and not paying much attention = ****up
Tried just the original RAM, no good, tried 2 new sticks of RAM, no good, I'm guessing I've damaged the DIMM slots because the POST is beeping for RAM problem no matter what sticks I put in.
So if anyone has an old P3 mobo lying around or knows of any please let me know.