Certainly, the temp sender was a Febi Bilstein unit from here. I wanted a big brand for this as could see that any inaccuracy could affect engine running as well as temp gauge readings. Pretty O.K. service, took about four days to arrive but good comms.
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Thermostat was an Intermotor. I Googled around this and Intermotor actually have a pretty good name. I've never had a problem with their stuff and it used to be the go-to name back in the day of points and condensors (ask an old person, they'll tell you what these are kids). I also took the view that a thermostat is an incredibly low-tech thing with age / corrosion being main cause of failure. Be aware it comes with a variety of O-rings so be careful to rescue the old one for comparison purposes. Good seller, item arrived within three days I think.
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Temp gauge now rock solid and car warmed up much quicker (judging not by the gauge but by heater outlet temps, albeit using a completely un-calibrated hand as a reference).
Therefore concluded as is normal for this car, if there was an option for one or both things to have faults, it will be both
In fact it managed to score an impressive failure rating of three out of two: I had taken the under-tray off so I could capture the coolant effectively. Successfully carried out the obligatory 'drop the O-ring' and 'drop the U-clip' procedures. In grubbing around the back of the gearbox looking for these (and very much enjoying the whole experience, what with it being perfectly clean and all), noticed the driveshaft heat-shield was loose and rubbing on the gaiter. Took that off, removed the anti-crush spacers (that had fretted loose due to tiny contact areas), and replaced with dinner-plate sized washers. Another job done.
A quick mention on both jobs:
Temp sender: I removed the engine cover, turbo pipe and the bracket that holds various wires next to the sender (one 10mm nut). After many goes trying to pull the sender plug off but not being able to squeeze the retaining clip hard enough whilst levering the plug, I removed the sender still attached to the wiring and then pulled the plug. Obviously you don't need to do this the other way. I 'glued' the O-ring to the sender with rubber grease after it fell off the first time. How I chuckled. Put a rag under where you're attempting to fit the U-clip: the slots aren't easy to see (at my age), and it's very easy to misjudge it and have it drop down in all of the cables and hoses around here. If you didn't want to drain the cooling system, get the new sender ready (with O-ring 'glued' on), and you'd be able to switch them in a few seconds and barely loose any coolant.
Thermostat: obviously you'll be draining the whole system, which you just do by pulling the thermostat hose off. Be aware that when you pull the thermostat itself out after removing the housing, another lot of coolant will rush out. Before you start, have a look at the two bolts that hold the housing on. The upper one is easy enough, but the lower one is very deceptive: access looks easy, but there's actually very little room to work. I got away with it with a combination of two 10mm spanners and one 5mm Allen key (mine had Allen hexes in the centre). If you Google around this on here you'll see people have bought special socket-holders that do the job nicely. I found though that by using two makes / ages of combination spanners and the Allen, I was able to do the job just fine, just took a while to get it to spin undone, and then a while to tweak it up fully. I remcommend you have a dress rehearsal by trying to loosen the bolt before you drain the system. If you need another tool, nothing lost, you've not drained the system down. If you can undo it, say, half a turn, you're going to be fine and can carry on. Also, be aware it initially looks as though the housing won't clear the alternator bracket casting: it will, it just needs a wiggle.
Finally: don't forget to bleed the cooling system if you did drain it: there's a Crossed-Head plastic screw near the radiator top on the right hand side as you lean into the engine bay: crack this after filling the system as far as you can. You'll hear air coming out and suddenly stop. Do this again after you've run the car up. Note: put interior heater to full temp - fan off, as this allows any air bubbles in that area to be expelled.
Finally, if you have a Webasto (like me), there's a bleed screw right at the back of the unit when viewed from front of car. Look at the brake fluid reservoir, and it's tucked to the left of that. I've got usefully slim hands / fingers, so I can reach down there (just) with a finger from each hand just touching the screw. It's heavily knurled and about the size of a penny coin so quite easy to turn. The downside is I had to completely remove mine before it started bleeding, which was then a fiddle to put back in: especially as the engine was running at the time.
Check your coolant level a few times over next week or so, esp after first couple of drives. If you're mixing up coolant from a concentrate, use distilled water for the mix: it's unbelievably cheap, leaves you a useful container for carrying pre-mixed screen-wash (or gin, or whatever) and doesn't contain the impurities that tap water does.
For reference, I'll tidy this post up and dump it in the Bale / Break thread for reference as this thread moves so fast things quickly get buried.
