Back home now after a good couple of days doing the work and triple checking everything before putting it all back together. Car is running fine with no issues! 
Taking off engine parts that hadn't been disturbed since it rolled out the factory in 2003 was fun, with the occasional stiff clip etc, not to mention the fun of getting the rocker cover off, that was welded on...
We had one delay with the rocker cover gasket (that admittedly I'd overlooked when ordering parts) as the local VX garage ordered in one for a metal cam cover instead of a plastic one, but they did manage to get one in under two hours to replace it. The old gasket was pretty hard in places with small cracks appearing, so it had to get changed.
Also ran a dose of Holts Speedflush coolant flush through the car, as I suspected the radiator was a bit gunked up. Added it with clean water, then let it idle for ten minutes before going out for a run to get it round the entire system. After a 15 mile trip the coolant bottle was a good yellow/orange colour so it was left to cool down before draining and flushing through again with fresh water. Happy to see no oil slick on the drained water Coolant was then mixed to 50/50 and the system refilled, before letting to idle to bleed, then out for another test drive.
Even though the removed thermostat had 82C stamped on it, the car was previously showing signs of getting hot very quickly when sitting in traffic - now, with the new waterpump, thermostat, and both sets of chains we have passed that issue.
I brought all the old parts home to photograph and show on here - one thing I will say is the old timing chain was showing no signs of stretching when compared to the new one. The balance chain tensioner was showing signs of age as it was pretty soft compared to the new one, but thankfully the guides were all still intact. The timing chain guide had very little wear. Unfortunately I didn't get pics of the bits during installation as the weather was a bit touch and go at times so it was better to just crack on.
One thing I will say is... the videos make it look ridiculously easy when the engine is out of the bay!
Again, thanks to all for their advice and input - all very much appreciated
Taking off engine parts that hadn't been disturbed since it rolled out the factory in 2003 was fun, with the occasional stiff clip etc, not to mention the fun of getting the rocker cover off, that was welded on...
We had one delay with the rocker cover gasket (that admittedly I'd overlooked when ordering parts) as the local VX garage ordered in one for a metal cam cover instead of a plastic one, but they did manage to get one in under two hours to replace it. The old gasket was pretty hard in places with small cracks appearing, so it had to get changed.
Also ran a dose of Holts Speedflush coolant flush through the car, as I suspected the radiator was a bit gunked up. Added it with clean water, then let it idle for ten minutes before going out for a run to get it round the entire system. After a 15 mile trip the coolant bottle was a good yellow/orange colour so it was left to cool down before draining and flushing through again with fresh water. Happy to see no oil slick on the drained water
Coolant was then mixed to 50/50 and the system refilled, before letting to idle to bleed, then out for another test drive.Even though the removed thermostat had 82C stamped on it, the car was previously showing signs of getting hot very quickly when sitting in traffic - now, with the new waterpump, thermostat, and both sets of chains we have passed that issue.
I brought all the old parts home to photograph and show on here - one thing I will say is the old timing chain was showing no signs of stretching when compared to the new one. The balance chain tensioner was showing signs of age as it was pretty soft compared to the new one, but thankfully the guides were all still intact. The timing chain guide had very little wear. Unfortunately I didn't get pics of the bits during installation as the weather was a bit touch and go at times so it was better to just crack on.
One thing I will say is... the videos make it look ridiculously easy when the engine is out of the bay!
Again, thanks to all for their advice and input - all very much appreciated
