Diary    57,706     10/25/97

 Gas at Gas 4 Less. 15 gallons, 189 miles, 12.6 mpg.

I checked the oil earlier today and it was a little more than 1/2 between full and add. Left it alone for now.

Formula One news: Last race of the season at Jerez, Spain. Schumacher and Villeneuve locked in a points race. Qualifying today had a motor-racing first - the top 3 places - Villeneuve on pole, Schumacher second, and HH Frentzen third all had identical qualifying times! Should be fun!

11/10/97

 Just to end the above... Jerez was definitely one of the most exciting F1 races this year if not ever. Schumacher pulled ahead and led till the last pit stop after which he was slower allowing Jocko to try a pass. Michael tried to shut the door on him like he was a vacuum cleaner salesman - trying to knock him out of the race and thus winning the championship. There's still talk about Schumacher's punishment and the latest rumor has Williams in collusion with Mercedes/McClaren on a winning strategy - time will tell.

 57,836 11/10/97

 Well, took the car in on the 31st for what I thought would be a minor fix on the new coolant hoses. When they checked it, however, they found that the hose they bought was swelling making it impossible to get clamps to keep it sealed. So one week later (plus an extra $361.30 later). I now have Gates Green Stripe running through both tunnels. This is the same stuff they use as OE in the 246 Dino. They deducted the cost of the other hose and did not charge any labor. It's a good thing as it took him nearly a day to get the old stuff out. I guess it had swelled in the tunnel and wouldn't budge. When I looked at it he (Jim the mechanic) had tried winching it out by running a nylon chord through it but to no avail. He finally used a heat gun to heat it enough to make it pliable and then pull it out. The remnants on the floor and his face showed the frustration the job produced. But now the Gates hose is in and looks great. They had to make some custom connectors and used a 90ƒ piece from a Toyota to complete the modification. He said that under pressure the new stuff didn't leak but some of the hoses above by the motor did. Then after tightening some clamps it was fine but the heater hoses started leaking. Tightening fixed them but it may still be leaking in one of the heater cores. He said it may dump coolant into a vent in which case we could bypass the core until a new one is ordered (or existing repaired).

Beers (couldn't find Moretti) as thanks (Jaan suggested this but said wine...being this is Medford and there were several guys I went with beer). The car has now been in the shop 15 days in two times and I've had it 23 in my possession (but 4 days inactive for a total of 19). But the drive to Bunkum the week before the fix was great!