Engine shutting down

[banky]

Hey brains trust,
Driving home tonight, slight incline sounded like engine started pinging.
Lifted off and coasted to red street light.
Oil pressure dropped to zero and engine stalled. Water temp in middle of gauge.
Tried to restart but seemed like battery was dead, enough to crank but firing very quickly. My rad has a small leak but I check water level every time before I drive, got the old boy to bring some water anyway.
He got to me after about 30 min, topped up the water with about a litre in the rad (expansion tank was still full, so im thinking it leaked out after the engine shut down).
Went to start to show the old boy the noise it was making and it started perfectly, no engine light, no codes, sounded perfect.
Drove up the road 100m and it all happened again.
Have managed to get it home.

Anyone have any ideas?
TIA
Brent

[banky]

Sorry,

02 V8, 96000klm

[silycr]

I'd be going towards head gasket, given that it took water and restarted when cooled off to do it again after short drive.
Could do a compression check and read the spark plugs when they come out to give you an indication of what's going on and where