job done since November last year but just never got the time ,then it snowed ,ice , snow , ice 
.Bigdaddycain said right you've waited long enough lets get it done.We started on Thursday morning.
Made sure we got all the gear, stat, coolant and the right tools, (well nearly all the right tools ,had to buy a universal socket joint just before we started).
Started to take the stat off ,what a faff, not a lot of room to maneuver a socket or spanner, 4 wheel drive so the prop shaft is in the way from underneath
, worked from on top under the passenger seat side,(i know where else would it be ) managed to get the stat out with a bit of firkling (thanks for that word Kirsty) undid the bottom hose on the rad and then started to flush the system with a hose pipe.Rad first ,from the top and from the bottom of the rad, surprisingly clean no gunk or rust, so quite happy with that. Flushed the expansion tank. Then used the hose to flush out the pipes i took off, again pretty clean.
.Replaced the new stat ,with a bit more firklin, swear words and bloodied knuckles. reconnected the hoses.(bigdaddy on his way to work so goodbye from him
)Filled the radiator first with water then put the radiator cap back on, then filled the expansion tank to overflowing, squeezed the hoses to expel as much air as i could and refill the expansion tank.
Started the engine ,coolant alarm went off immediately
forgot i had a high coolant alarm as well as the low took that off temporarily then restarted the engine, all the fans on full blast front and rear, heat turned up full, then just kept topping up the water in the expansion tank as and when needed as the air came out .patience is now needed, 
rev up a bit , top up, as so on.As the the amount of water needed to top up got less and less the engine was getting up to temp, top hose hot, bottom hose getting quite warm
so i kinda figured that all was OK, left the engine running for a bit longer checking the water in the expansion tank, seemed OK as well, i had had enough by this time and it was getting dark and was raining, turned the engine off ,cap on the expansion tank, and leave till Friday morning to finish the job.(and let it get rid of any trapped air overnight 
)Ste (bigdaddycain) arrived bright and early Friday morning to put the coolant in, checked the level in the tank, was a bit low so topped it up, now the fun part, started the engine (had already warmed her up earlier) me on the drain hose, Ste on the expansion tank, slowly introducing neat coolant as i let the water drain. When we put just under five litres coolant in we then filled a five litre can with the hot coolant mix coming out so we could use for topping up purposes, used the rest of the neat coolant and then replugged the drain hose.
Then let the engine do the work for us and mix the coolant as it circulates, hot air coming out of the front and rear vents.
top hose hot, bottom hose nearly as hot, so we know the stat was working.Just a bit of mixed coolant needed every now and then when an air bubble came out to keep the expansion tank to the full mark, but not a lot. reconnected the high coolant alarm.
Gave her a bit of a run , temp gauge under 12 o'clock (Mason alarm fitted) lowest Ive ever seen it since fitting the Mason alarm. checked the level of coolant when i got back, needed a bit but not much. coolant alarms did not go off.
Will check for the next couple of days just to make sure and top up if needed. jobs a good un. thanks to Ste for his help and knowledge and elastoplast for their invention.
