I finally received the correct sandwich plate from mishimoto so this evening i made in the temp gauge thermostat, being as it was a tapered thread the end of the thermostat was hitting the inside of the plate before it was getting tight and i wanted it done properly and not just putting on as much PTFE as possible to make it tight.
so i drilled the inside to make a recess for the stat to sit in and get it wound in another 5mm ish to get it tight, when my new oil filter turns up its time to get the new oil cooler and various other engine mods in.