>  A short time later he was back on the road and returned to
> the campground with one of those "You ain't gonna believe this" type
> stories.

I bought my '87 Syncro Westy in '01.  In the fall I was heading
to Baja (with Mark Drillock).  Larry was preping Roadhaus for his
big trip and was replacing all the coolant hoses.  Jealousy!

I asked my mechanic here in Boulder about that--replacing all
the hoses.  He said that my hoses looked good, and besides,
there were four that typically failed.++  So I bought those four--
all little short, right-angled hoses.  One Syncro-specific.

They were in my spares kit--they were *most* of my spares kit--
until Syncro Safari '08 in Moab.  There I had a squirting
hose leak on Top of the World trail.  Guess--it was one of
those four.  Soon I was back on the road, er, trail.
http://jones.colorado.edu/jones/SS08Moab/
[Thanks again, and again, to Serge and Jack!!]

Now that I have a Subie 2.5 installed, I have the other three
hoses for sale....  ;-)

Richard

++word to the wise:  I have experience with ONE Syncro Westy; my
mechanic has experience with N, where N is a MUCH larger number.
One advantage of a mechanic; or "N advantage" of a mechanic.