Soooo.....been a right royal pain in the butt, but have finally managed to get Poppy's new radiators and coolant hoses fitted. When I say fitted, what I mean is this is the 3rd time they've been fitted!!!!
1st time, all fitted, ran car for about 20 mins, no leaks, system bled, happy days! started bolting front back together. Ran for a further 15 mins, bloody coolant all over floor!! She'd sprung a leak where the new hose was fitted to the water pump
Turns out it was sitting just past the wee groove that sticks up on the pump, so was causing a slight gap when heated up. Refitted hose, tested again!
Ran her for approx 1hour 40 mins as I wanted to be really sure there were no more leaks. Ran fine, system bled and all good. bolted most of the front back on, only part left was bumper. Started her up to leave her running while I fitted it....10 mins later, coolant everywhere! Coming from same bloody bit too, although I had to completely strip down the front of the car again to see where it was coming from.
Took the new hose off and realised that it came off rather too easily. Hose was too big on the end where it goes onto the pump (its smaller at the other end on the radiator) so was never gonna seal properly once heated up. Ended up cutting the hose back a bit to where it was smaller diameter, then refitted it (along with a new clip). Fitted nice and tight now and hose length is fine.
Ran her for 2 and a half hours solid, both on tickover and at around 3k revs. System was a total pain to bleed this time, but got there in the end.
Happy to say, thats the last of the leaks! Started putting her back together again...
Then got her fitted with DD's alloys, then full valet done on her ready for MOT. We took her for a wee test drive along the back lanes and she drove spot on! Temp stays where it should, no leaks, exhaust sounds fruity! Gayle loves the wee burble on over run, and nice tone to the exhaust. We did get a fright however as we stopped to turn round and come back. Could see steam/smoke coming from engine bay and weird smell....thought she had caught fire! We both jumped out quickly and I popped the bonnet to check. Lots of what at first looked like smoke but turned out to be steam coming from down behind the airbox/gearbox area. realised it must have been the coolant that over flowed when I was trying to bleed her the last time (I'd forgot to put the cap back on and she boiled up and blew it out everywhere over the bay. So must have been that just getting burned off with the heat thankfully! Anyhoo, here's some pics in our driveway (pre-valet) and the last one in the garage is after she's been valeted.