Last weekend I had to move a bit of furniture for one of my daughters.
After a very slow cruise through her neighborhood we parked the car,
and ten minutes later I was looking at a HUGE pool of coolant. I popped
out the rear deck hatch and saw a pretty good stream of coolant coming
out of the (plastic or metal?) fitting that bolts to the head, then
connects to a longer length of pipe that leads to the water pump with a
short segment of rubber hose.

At this point, I don't know if it's the short piece of hose, it's
connection to the flange to the head, the flange itself or the
connection to the head that's the problem, but it's right in that one
and a half inches somewhere.

What's that flange made of, plastic or metal? I had it in my hands when
I did the head gaskets last christmas, but I can't remember.

What's the best way to get to it?

I haven't had a minute to look at it since I drove it back home (never
overheated) but I was wondering what to expect this weekend.

Jim