Got a new stat, it has 1 hole in it with a brass rivet flattened on one end, so it moves in the hole, I have removed this as it might work loose one day, hole is approx 1/16 inch, anyway placed the new one in boiling water, as I have previously bought stats that did not open even when new, this one opened up lovely, tested the one with the 2 off 6mm holes in boiling water, it eventually opened slightly but nowhere near as far as the new one, anyway installed new stat, jacked rear of car up, filled with coolant, ran car topping up as necessary, replaced cap and watched the temp gauge rise to 82 degrees, it stayed there for a while, the started to rise again, by this time inlet and outlet on radiator were hot, when temp reached 95 degrees fans cut in and reduced temp to 90 degrees, so happy days, not driven car yet, be interesting to see what temp is achieved on motorway