Thanks all - for the words of wisdom....and encouragement. I am a bit frustrated with both of my cars at the moment - ok, well in actuality I am frustrated with myself. Some days everything I touch on these cars goes poorly. Fix one thing and in the process bugger up another. argh, well,l I am glad I didn't overfill the engine.
Glad to know the trick about checking cold and mentally adding an inch or 1.5 to get approx level - thanks...I have been checking hot and running at the end off the day. Nice to have a way to check before a long trip