home Diary    57,407    10/12/97    
Well, the coolant leak has transformed from a piddle to a puddle. Got underneath and it would appear to be coming from the lower tunnel. In looking it would appear that removing this will have to be done out the back. Call and asked Jaan and he said that I'd probably have to jack up the motor some which would require maybe removing exhaust system and possible ac compressor. Says engine is bolted onto frame in four spots and with these removed can go up a ways. Jack under engine with a 2x4 on top - otherwise I could pull and cut the old one out and run rubber hose up through. The 246 Dino uses rubber hose. He said he used marine epoxy in the pipes to seal them but it seems to not be holding.

 57,407 10/13/97 Called and talked to Ron Tonkin service today. They haven't taken these out on a car but said they knew people used the marine epoxy as well. No guess on time. Transferred me to parts and spoke to Robin. She looked at a parts book for a å75 Dino which appeared to be a photocopy of a fax and was hard to read plus only in Italian. She then looked at the book for the å79 (which had separate pages for ac and cooling). She was able to come up with part numbers and a diagram which matched my description. Said it was a special order item.

 At lunch went and talked to the guy at specialized foreign auto. Said he'd done same job on other cars (including a Toyota van which had pipes so inaccessible he ran new ones underneath). He said the marine epoxy works good but needs to be very clean. If it can't be epoxied (a 72 hour wait) they could weld a new piece in. Said that proper PH is important in system to prevent corrosion and that he could check it there. Went on to say Ron Tonkin is good with parts and usually has them in around 3 days. He also said they've done work on Jerry Lausman's TR (2 clutches, new computer unit). Said Jerry even took it through an automated car wash! No thankyou! My general impression is it's a good clean shop and he knows of what he speaks. His rate is $55 an hour straight time on Ferraris and figures 2-3 hours. Said to bring it in for a check and that it was best to fax off a serial number and description and get a diagram faxed back and then order the part.