Thanks for the replies and the link. After thinking about the symptoms it likely is very similar to the problems covered in the Honda link with the starter being the culprit as it's clear the problem is a grounding/short issue and the starter in any car draws alot of amps. If those amps are grounded ( short ) I'd imagine the symptoms listed are consistent with that. It could be the relay but if that shorted I'd think the car would mimic the situation when you don't shove the clutch in, nothing. Although if an intermittent short through the relay maybe what's occurring would be in line with a bad starter depending how the circuit is wired. With older cars you usually get warning symptoms with various components/circuits going bad like hard cranking/slow cranking for starter. With later batteries that operate at high efficiency until they suddenly don't have sufficient juice deliver, to high torque starters that wind out until they ground out/brushes don't contact the armature any more. It works great one second, sayanara the next... Used to older cars "warning" me before something fails. I'll take her in for warranty repair and see what they say. Thanks all.

Steve