Once you're at the thermostat stage (fan, shroud, belts off) it's a piece of piss, I did mine due to dire warnings of plastic impellers only to find someone had changed it previously to a metal one. Plastic overflow tank had to be bodged back together with epoxy and cable ties and coolant top ups every fortnight, a proper repair will be an Xmas break job. Mine is on its third radiator in four years, first leaked, second exploded somehow miraculously not killing the engine despite a mile of coolantless driving to reach a safe stopping area.Beany wrote: ↑Mon Dec 16, 2019 11:59 am What was the waterpump like? I know they use plastic impellers and are considered a 'if you're there, you might as well do it because they're flaky as all fuck' kinda item.
(I've seen yanks saying you should replace pretty much all the cooling system - water pump, expansion tank, thermostat - every 50,000 miles, but that's yanks for you)
It is mostly a pleasure to work on, bulb changes in seconds, filters in minutes etc. Only the horrific oil separator replacement (needlessly as it still needs oil at 1l/1000miles) and having to strip the seats out to do rear springs stick out and neither are exactly service items.