Change thermostat on 1.8 - easy?

[Hellraiser]

Need to change the stat on my 1.8 - takes ages to warm up so I assume it has stuck open. Anyway, changed the one on my Mrs 1.6 Tipo without any issues, just had to have a bowl handy to catch the excess water - however, having read the Haynes manual it states draining the whole cooling system, surely I don't need to do this just to change the stat?

Hints would be nice, bought 4 new tyres recently as the previous set were worn, only got a puncture off a screw in one of them 10 days later - not feeling very lucky at the moment so any advice would be greatly appreciated and may even result in a virtual pint

Hellraiser.........>

 

[Tom]

The stats in 16v engines are usually half way down the engine so you loose alot of water.

 

[Anonymous]

I did mine last year...If you have some mechanical ability you'll be able to do it fine. Get some new jubilee clips at the same time as the stat as the fiat ones are one use.