Boiling Guilia Super

["Timothy Leigh Rodgers" <timothy@domain.elided>]

Driving from Santa Barbara up San Marcos Pass-a long steep uphill climb for
about 10 minutes-I didn't seem to have as much power as usual and had to
shift a lot to maintain speed.  I was mostly in 2nd and 3rd and only
occasionally in 4th gear.  Near the top of the hill my wife thought she saw
steam from the engine.  I didn't see it, but the temp gauge I had neglected
to observe was now at 100 degrees (centigrade-European car!)  I slowed down
and the temperature dropped to 80 degrees and the car ran fine as we crested
the summit and drove for another 45 minutes until we needed gas at Pismo
Beach.  There I noted that the upper and lower radiator hoses were
collapsed.  I waited for the engine to cool and removed the radiator cap.
Immediately the hoses reexpanded.  I added about two quarts of water, and
the car drove fine up to SF and 2 days later back to Santa Barbara (other
than the ticket for going 90mph on the way to the Palo Alto Concours
d'Elegance-but that's another story.)  No more overheating, no collapsed
hoses, no loss of coolant.
I'd appreciate any ideas as to what happened and why, and what I can do to
prevent such problems in the future.
Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Timothy
'71 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1300 Super
'78 Alfa Romeo F-12 Diesel Van
'92 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce
'81 Harley Wide Glide
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