After a quick organise of the space, I slid a plastic washing up bowl (don't tell Mum) under the radiator and popped off the bottom hose. Let the draining begin! The top hose was a little messier, but nothing compared to the hockey stick and J hose removal - which went everywhere! A quick clean up later and with the coolant decanted in to old Irn Bru bottles...

It's amazing how much space there is when you get the hoses out of the way, so I gave the engine bay a quick clean, and popped the front ARB back on with oodles of grease while the radiator was off. I thought about taking a look at the oil pressure relief valve but you need some kind of beastly allen key (which I don't have) so I will leave that, and perhaps send it to Oily after the wedding...

So on with the new hoses. The J hose was a struggle, but, after a soak in some really hot water, it slid on ok. Tightened up the jubilee clip while I could still get at it, and put it at a slightly different angle to before which should mean less potential for air being trapped, and also making a bit more space. Next up was the heater hose or hockey stick, which went on without a fuss. Being longer than the hose I removed I had to lop some length off the bypass hose so it wasn't ridiculously long. Top and bottom hoses also went on with no drama - it was beginning to look like a good evening!

After dinner, I came back and tightened up all the clips and made sure everything was secure. Only running it will show if I've done it right! The hose from the header tank to the submarine had to be replaced with some flexible hose as the pre-shaped one no longer fitted with the new positioning in the engine bay. Suits me - there's less hose, which means less weight!

I didn't have any coolant handy so I cracked on with fluids part 2: oil! I dropped the old oil, which was quite dark (oops - must be about 5k since I changed it...), and popped off the old filter. Let it drip for a while, and popped the sump plug back in. New filter on, no hassle. Put just under four litres of new oil in, and left it there for the evening.

All in all, a good evening!

List of things still to do:

• Resecure petrol tank and replace boot floor (I hope this goes in as I can't take the roll bar off again! If not, I'll hacksaw it...)
• Finish putting the poppers on the boot cover
• Take the petty strut out as I have a passenger for the handling day
• Drop the car on its wheels and torque up the suspension fixings
• Measure the alignment on the front wheels and adjust as necessary - where did I put that piece of string?
• Decide how to mount the front number plate and mount it
• Reconnect battery, check all the lights still work
• Crank for pressure, fill with coolant
• Fire her up! Check temperature, fan kicking in, thermostat opening etc etc.
• Replace bonnet and nosecone, polish (latter is optional!)
• Tax and drive!
• MOT in July...