[brucepick]

I have to admit - I too have stretched things more than once to avoid losing momentum.

On another topic - I'm making an effort to prepare for the truly cold weather that's coming.

Got thermostat changed. Was 172ºF, is now 180ºF. Formerly the car ran at about 182ºF, now runs at approx 195ºF. A hotter t'stat was available but that would have put operating temp about 205-210ºF, and that would cause the radiator fan to run frequently. So I'm happy with the 180ºF t'stat and 195ºF result.

Made a nicer grill block for the upper grill on Civic. Stainless screws hold it on which aren't so pretty, but the plexiglass panel is nicer than the duct tape that was there before. Lower grill has a newish panel I put on this past summer, with a sliding cover over an approx 8" x 12" opening so I can adjust for various outside temperatures.

Have been researching how to do a coolant heater on the Civic. If successful I'll write it up. Quite a few approaches do not work on this car. I believe I'll be able to use a "tank type" convection flow heater, with coolant entering heater from the lower rad hose via a T adapter (by Kat's) and exiting towards the hot side heater hose, again via a T adapter. Heater by ZeroStart has a backflow check valve. As I say, full details later if this is successful.