> btw......the hoses that wear the most are the ones that get the hottest -
> usually ones on top of the engine.

Soon after I got my '87 Syncro in 2001, I asked my mechanic about
replacing hoses.  He has many years of experience with many
Vanagons, and he commented that there were four hoses that
were the most common to fail.  I put spares of those four on
board and drove for years until a hose started spewing coolant
at Syncro Safari '08.  It was one of those four.

I'd look up which four and give part numbers but my Syncro
is at the mechanic's getting a bunch of new hoses--connected
to a Subaru 2.5 engine.  ;-)

Richard