Bill
I’d bought an extendable tap spanner in preparation for this job. Waste of time. The first photo shows what I thought were screws holding the plate on place. There are two of them, one impossible to reach. And they don’t hold the tap on. It is a threaded plate and screws up onto the tap. Easy job when the sink is detached but impossible in situ.
The second photo shows the tap connectors which are a standard female thread. They have a rubber washer insert to close the joint. I have been unable to find a flexible tap connector with a male 12mm end. They are all 15mm. So I am going to put a compression joint on the end 12mm to 15mm to take a standard flexible fitting.
The sink took some gentle levering to lift of the wooden bar across the front. There was no jointing compound there, just 16 years of  accumulated muck.
Let me know if you find any tips on your work. I have the forward heads to do next!


  Have fun

Ian