I think that I'm going to just make a simple spreadsheet for all my mileage information. Should be a lot more efficient. On the trials and tribulations front, I blew a heater hose on 8.21. Fortunately, I was close to home - still on my home street actually. I was hit in the hood by a falling apple (it actually bounced off the road and then up on to my hood) and I stopped in the road. I hadn't actually seen just what it is that I hit, so I simply backed up (one of the benefits of living rurally) to see what it was. I actually heard a little popping noise, but being an old car I didn't think much of it. I investigated the apple (with relief) and continued on another 1/4 mile or so before I looked down at my gauges (I check them frequently) and saw that I was getting hot. I pulled over and looked under the car to see a constant stream of antifreeze. I thought 'well shit' and got the extra jug of water I keep in the trunk for just such an eventuality and poured it into the cooling system and drove home. I was initially concerned that I had blown a head gasket or freeze plug and was relieved to find that it was just one of the molded heater hoses. I called my local trusty Napa store and..... nothing! They said it was a dealer only part. "For a heater hose???" I said. Apparently their system doesn't even list a part number. Well after calling every other parts store in the area, the closest I got was Baxter auto parts saying that they could get something out of Portland. So I simply called iPD down in Portland myself and had them send their (last) two sets of OEM hoses to me. In the meantime, I scavenged an old one from a spare motor I have. I'll replace it sometime in the next few weeks before it gets cold. I have very little antifreeze in the motor at this point and will need to drain/fill anyway. I'll also keep both old hoses in the trunk as freeway spares. Funny thing is that the hose that split was only a couple of years old and was a Volvo OEM hose. The dealer locally (or in Seattle for that matter) didn't have any either "Haven't sold one of those in years!" was their comment. They also told me that one of them is NLA from Volvo and they couldn't get it.
For reference here are the Volvo part numbers:
463524. This is the one from the head to the firewall (this is the one I blew and shows NLA).
9141261. This is the one from the firewall to the tube that runs around the back side of the head.
One final note. I always coat the inside of the hose with a silicon based lubricant (the same as I use for fuel injector o rings) before I install them. I find that in the event you have to remove them down the road, they pretty much just pop right off without having to cut them off. Much easier in the event you are on the side of the freeway. I use Napa brand Syl-Glyde. One tube has lasted a couple of years now, so don't let the $14 price tag scare you.
-Q