Day 28 - Coolant, Engine Oil & Rubber Floor Mats (2 Hours)

I only wanted to spend a couple of hours out in the garage today as I had run out of gas for the heater! Soft lad i know! :-)

Job 88 - Coolant

Having purchased the first fill pack from Caterham i decided it was time to put some coolant in, so I went around all of the Hose Clips and checked they were tight enough and then started to add coolant to the expansion bottle. Putting in about 4 litres before realising that one the Hose Clip attached to the water rail at the back of the engine was dripping! A quick tighten and all was well.

Filling through the expansion chamber first 

I took Tom Woods advice and started to add some to the radiator until it was full.

I then moved on to filling via the pipe between the Heater and the Modine until the level sat steady at the maximum line.

I ended up using all 5 litres supplied and had to buy some more from a local supplier to complete the job!

Job 89 - Engine Oil

This was filled via the top as you would expect. I filled from the bottle supplied using 4.5 litres initially as I aired on the side of caution to begin with. Leaving it whilst I moved on to the Floor Mats I came back to it afterwards and checked the dipstick and nothing. I guess I will be adding the remaining 6 litres to suit my engine.

Job 90 - Rubber Floor Mats

As with many jobs at this stage, it took longer than I was expecting with a break in the middle to show my Mum, Dad and Sister progress to date. Showing them a couple of other bits including the tiny steering wheel and amusingly small windscreen wipers!

I started by placing the mats in the foot wells to see how they sat. Length wise spot on, width wise a little wider than the lowered floors.

Measuring for the popper base locations

I tried to decide where best to fix the poppers and once I had decided I drilled the holes and placed the popper base and rivet in place. The first rivet ended up loose and I realised I had read on Andrew Bissell's blog that in order to get a tight fit he placed spacers small enough to fit inside the popper base allowing for the riveter work as it should. I ended up using spring washers as that was all I had that would fit, but I will need to find a better solution for re-fixing the rear popper bases!

Drilling the holes, pilot hole before a 4mm bit

On fixing the bases, I fixed placed the mats in position and pushed down on the popper bases to make an imprint in the bottom of the mats.

Using the Dura dot Tool for the first time - Its a rubbish bit of kit in mu opinion.

I then drilled holes through the mats and used the durable dot tool to secure the popper top to the mats. Job done. :-)

Popper Bases and Tops before fixing the mats

Mats fixed in place