The hood has been sat at the paintshop waiting to come back, and they rang me yesterday and asked if they could drop it off today. It was due late morning so after I dropped Poppy to school I came home and tidied up a bit so I could put it straight on. I’d bought some heater hose in the week so I pulled the temporary loop off and drained the system out before I fitted it. With it all filled up I started it and let it heat up. No problems, so thats another part done.

When the hood arrived, I bolted it loosely in place to see how badly out it was. The drivers side sat about an inch too high for some strange reason, and after loosening and repositioning it all it still did. I pressed down on the hood corner and it dropped into place. After some investigation, I found the hinge was very badly worn so I’ll have to push the back down when I close it for now. After a bit of shimming, it sat as equally as I could get it so I tightened it all up and took the latch assembly off to see what was up with it. After ten minutes or so of cleaning and oiling, it works perfectly and locks up securely. I also bolted down the bottom of the striker plate which was a nightmare as its behind the intercooler. A quick polish of the chrome trim and the bird and they were ready to re-fit. The bird is pretty bad, but it still looks good.