Ford when speaking to them advised of the replacement extended tank but as it stands not sure; they want to pick the car up and effective strip elements of the car... sounding very expensive investigation work. So has anyone experienced anything similar, can offer thoughts, etc... Thank you in advance.

You have not been speaking to Ford, you have at best been speaking to one of their franchised dealers.

The first thing they should be doing is a sniff test on the cooling tank to check for exhast gasses. After that pressure test for the cooling systemand possibly an engine compression test as well.

But its a 10 year old car and are you sure you want to be paying Ford dealer rates. A good independent, better still a performance Ford specialist are more appropiate. repairs could easill be more than the car is worth.

Was there any anti-freeze in it?

Whatever the root cause it sounds as if the head gasket has failed now.

Does nobody ever stop when the temperature or oil pressure warning light comes on?

A good independent is probably the best way to proceed.

I think the answer would be the same whatever the vehicle. The expansion tank or the connections to it have failed because of excessive pressure and pretty much the only source of this would be a blown head gasket between a water way passing through to the head and one of the cylinders. Might not be too bad if you can do it yourself but there is always the worry that the head was or now is warped especially in view of the overheating, plus main bearings and end shells will not have enjoyed the experience. I think it may be time to say goodbye to it.