DeLorean Intake Manifold

"With his wildest thoughts, did John DeLorean ever imagine this?" I thought to myself as I relaxed in the 40C temperature of our cedar sunroom, feet resting on my DeLorean's intake manifold, which was doing Ottoman duty.

Only a day earlier I was hard at work with a friend, president of one of the many DeLorean owner's clubs. Together we unbolted, unplugged and tested various things. Finally, with the problem within our grasp, we decided to pull the 16-lb. aluminum manifold.

Once removed, we gained access to two very important parts of the engine: the ignition distributor and the "valley of death" or VOD. (A post on that to follow). Realizing we could not possibly finish the repairs without some new parts, we packed it in.

I have ordered a set of o-rings and gaskets from the DeLorean Motor Company and am awaiting their arrival. In the meantime, I thought it would be a great idea to shine up the manifold.

I went into the backyard with a deadly can of GUNK Engine Brite, made from the tears and nightmares of environmentalists. As I sprayed the heavy duty engine degreaser and scrubbed with a toothbrush, the blackened manifold slowly turned a bright silver.

All around me the grass withered and died, and as I hosed off the patio a celebratory rainbow appeared in the petroleum-based run-off. I let the manifold sit outside to dry off for a few hours, then brought it inside for protection, as a new one would run me nearly $600 U.S. plus shipping if it somehow "went missing". That's nearly $37 per pound.

Well, I guess it's not that bad. With Gold around $900 per pound, I'm glad I don't have one of the ultra-rare solid gold DeLoreans*.

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*Just kidding. I totally wish I had one. Oh, and the gold DeLoreans only had gold plated body panels, not engine parts.