So the upstairs bath was moved into position. In a fairly tight alcove so kindly envisage a portly elderly person adjusting the support legs!
This led on to final assembly of the wall mounted taps and spout. I suppose it is too much to expect the manufacturer to check if the spout points down when assembled and provide a suitably sized spacer to compensate? Anyway the first attempt ended with the spout pointing to the ceiling (ARW on a slow day). Back out and lots more thread tape. This time it got to about 4 o'clock, tempting me to apply a little more leverage.
Extracting the broken threaded sleeve was easy compared to finding a suitable threaded insert which could be soldered into the nicely chromed but very thin brass spout. (old fashioned tap connector, turned down to a sliding fit and the thread built up with a soldered on sleeve)
I have taken the opportunity to shorten the spout as it offers lots of leverage to unwary children.