A productive day!
Did an oil change, went much like any oil change really. Now all topped up with Unipart's finest. Noticed a washer cap missing - quite common apparently. Couple of quid on eBay... So added to the to-do list. As is resetting the service indicator. The last owner said that it had a recent cambelt and noticed a sticker under the bonnet confirming that it was changed in 2013. I'll assume the sticker is truthful!
Whilst the oil was draining out, I decided to get on and drill some holes behind the licence plate. I think that Saxos are quite good on cooling, but a few of the track spec ones that I had seen had extra cooling holes drilled.
Had a 57mm cutter to hand, seemed like as good a size as any. This type of cutter (as opposed to the type with a backing plate) can go right through without getting snagged on anything - or so I thought...
So I measured and marked:
I changed my mind a couple of times, but was finally happy with the spacing between holes, existing number plate screw holes, etc.
Double checked with the cutter:
And double checked all my spacings again... Measure 29 times, cut once.
Decided to stick some board in front of the rad, just in case I burst thorough the bumper and into the rad...
Having drilled some pilot holes (noting that the plastic was quite soft), I cracked on... And hit a problem:
There is an internal structure (never thought much about what was inside of a bumper!) and the hole cutter could only get so far before being stopped by the internal structure. Had to Dremmel this out, before resuming with the hole cutter. Got there in the end, but if I was doing it again, I would buy a longer / deeper hole cutter, so that I could do it in one pass. Really did make a 15 minute job into a 60 minute one. I was warned that it was a pain doing this mod, but didn't quite comprehend the way in which it would be awkward!
Good ventilation now though.
And with the plate back on, for the plain street car look.
Hopefully that will keep me cool at Goodwood. Anyone think that it needs to be meshed? To stop stones and stuff smash in the rad? The opening in the bumper if pretty open already to be honest, so I'm thinking it will be OK? Famous last words maybe!
More to follow...
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