Ok late update,but on Monday I took the day off and got a lil bit of stuff done for the car.  
 
Ordered the DeltaAV base bushings and linkages as well as the cam cover hex bolts, which arrived very promptly on Monday (thanks Trav and Nick).  Excellent products, but I found it wasn't the bushings that was causing my shifting to not work properly, it was this:
 
GOD DAMN IT! either way only put the baseplate bushings in, but made a noticeable change to shifting (it's much more defined), looking forwarding to putting the linkages in probably over the weekend.
 
I also checked the oil levels (which were low) so put my remaining 1L of oil I had spare in, and found this in the cap!

WTF is that?!?!?!? asking some of my car mates, they seem to think BHG :( I did have stop leak in there at one point however....  I've cleaned it up and I'll see if this re-occurs.
 
Also pulled out the dash to check the temp gauge resistances (which were approximately what is called for in the owners manual), so unless there is a loose connection somewhere I have NFI what's causing it to fail (maybe I should try replacing the sensor).
 
I also did some measuring and inspecting.  Front swaybar mount bushings are split, but the rest are all good. I've got 18mm front and rear swaybars too. I'm thinking I'll get this from Twosrus.  (not sure if I should just get the set of bushings or not - they're cheap), but will also get a 3sgte cam cover seal kit
 
next up is the seals - first will be cam cover as a DIY, unless the head gasket is blown. :S
Car was also prepped for the snow, putting the 235s on the rear (I've got chains to fit) (instead of the 275s)
 
Few other things to do - 
Current list is:
- Cam cover seal
- replace front swaybar mount bushings
- fix underbody tray
- coolant flush (still have to do) and replace cold start injector
- interior light globe is loose (need to fix)
- breaks weep slightly.
- IC piping clamps
- mount the amp on the floor of the boot (was on the side, but caused problems.
- degrees engine and find the rest of the leaks
- raise the rear coilovers (slightly
- find what is causing the temp gauge not to work anymore. (happened at the track day).
 
it's a fairly long list :|
 
 
 
 

bigh
 WTF is that?!?!?!? asking some of my car mates, they seem to think BHG :( I did have stop leak in there at one point however....  I've cleaned it up and I'll see if this re-occurs.
 

Your mates are correct in that there is evidence for a BHG here. 
"One of the most common tell-tale signs is a milky-gray ring around your oil cap. When coolant enters the engine oil through a crack in the head or through a blown gasket, it evaporates and leaves a milky ring around the oil cap."
 
PS: I've used Stop Leak in the past and haven't noticed any milky residue around the cap either.

when I do my coolant I'll check for colour there too :) should happen on Saturday :)
 
certainly hope it's not a BHG :(  I do only drive short distances in the car... 
 
 
oh tasks - I've still got the ecu to consider too...

a breaker bar, lol im assuming this is on the engine block and not the one in the radiator.
did you drain from all 4 places, radiator, block and two in the pipes that run under the car??
i guess you can jack the front end up and let it all drain out the back
theres about 13 lires in there all up

hahah yeah i got coolant all over me from the one in the block but luckily i left the car sitting overnight so it was nice and cold.
 
keep an eye on the coolant as it will drop slowly, which has always happened to me and eventually it will settle. might need to top up about 50mls or so everyday until it eventually settles keeping an eye on the overflow as well 
 
just a tip dont open the presure cap when the cars even warm, wait till its cold pref. overnight and then open to check the coolant level otherwise the coolant will get sucked into the engine and you will keep topping up and it will end up in the overflow and spill out of that, learnt that the hard way.
if you park on a reallt flat surface then the settling proceduere takes less time. thats what i have found out anyway. 
cheers

be careful with coolant flush stuff, i used some once that came with a new rad in my missus camry.
 
the stuff ate the toyota rubber seals on the thermostat and the rad cap. even after i flushed the stuff out of the car. must've been a residual as its all but impossible to remove it all.
 
i ended up having to buy 2 new thermostats and caps.

What coolant did you use?

Why do you have to change it often? regardless if you change it often, techtaloy or any other green silicate based crap isn't ideal.
Most red OAT based SLL coolant should be good for (max) 5 years/250,000 kms which is a ****load.