Hi guys, just a quick update - I did the bypass mod, seems fine - haven't noticed any changes to idle behaviour.
Absolute dog of a time removing and reattaching some of the hoses in the hard-to-reach spaces - are there any lubricants that I can use in future to make this an easier job?
Anyways, here are the steps I followed (Lantis V6 2.0L):
1. Jack up car, jack stands.
2. Try to undo radiator petcock. Struggle to get decent purchase, worry about it being brittle and breaking, decide to back off. Give up in frustration.
3. Try to undo bottom rad hose from rad. Curse Mazda - bloody nightmare to get at "old-style" radiator clamp and hose itself. Give up in frustration.
4. Undo bottom rad hose from engine end (the metal pipe which connects to the thermostat housing). A little bit of spillage from around the thermostat, but nothing major. Manoeuvre hose downwards and collect old coolant in basin under car. Empty rad.
5. Turn attention to throttle body hoses: Hose A (engine to throttle body) and Hose B (throttle body to thermostat housing). First, remove air filter housing to get a bit more room to move. Remove Hose A entirely (allow coolant from block to drain all over tranny, then eventually into basin). Disconnect Hose B from thermostat housing, and fold Hose B around so it's connected to throttle body at both ends (seemed tidy). Take new hose (Hose C) and with great difficulty connect to engine side, then with great simplicity connect to thermostat housing.
6. Remove and clean filthy overflow bottle. Use in turn: hot water & raw rice, hot water & baking soda, pressure washer my neighbours are cleaning their house with. Get best results with hot water & oxy-action cleaner. Be lost for words with the sheer quantity of rusty crap that comes out through the entire process. Incredible.
7. Disconnect top rad hose from engine side, stuff hose and rag in, and run hose until water runs clear.
8. Disconnect "other" top rad hose (leading from rad to overflow bottle), repeat hose trick.
9. Do #7 again, was worth it, got more brown out.
10. Re-fit overflow bottle.
11. Reconnect all hoses (ie. top rad hose to engine, bottom rad hose to engine, top rad-overflow hose to overflow bottle).
12. Refill coolant, realise with a wince that I'm going to have to do this again in a few months when I pull out engine for cambelt replacement. 
13. Take care for test drive - all seems fine!
EDIT 14. Wake up next morning and realise I didn't flush engine block and heater core properly before refilling coolant. Sigh!!
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