DeLorean Dies - on Jalopnik

[Dangermouse]

(no, you read the title wrong!)

Proof that there is at least one D fan on Jalopnik

http://jalopnik.com/5898798/the-fina...a-time-machine

[Farrar]

Heh... first thing I thought was "What did it die of? Is this the 'World's Fastest DeLorean - TUNED' video again?"

[Shep]

So does anyone know roughly how far down the dies are? I've always heard they're at the bottom of the sea, but never how far down. I'm curious if anyone with the money and/or resources ever considered pulling them up for reuse. LFF's alone could potentially offset costs depending on the depth and how you market them. Obviously half a mile down is out of the question, but a hundred feet or two might be worth some consideration for someone that already has access to the right equipment

Disclaimer: I have zero aquamarine experience other than watching a bit of TV with this kind of stuff in it, so take it for what it's worth.

[Dracula]

Another piece that would be interesting and informative if it weren't, overall, negative and laden with bad BTTF puns.

[xbrules]

Very cool but very sad at the same time...

any chance of raising them from the deep would be pointless sadly... they are already rusting on deck before being thrown over the side, they'd be unrecognizable lumps of iron on the sea bed by now...

you'd have better luck making new ones... but that's only a matter of time now I guess...

[Nicholas R]

There is no chance that they would be salvageable after what they've been subjected to for all these years. Ever seen photos of a rusted shipwreck or photos of titanic wreckage? That salt water is just destroying them; it speeds up the rusting process exponentially. They are WAY beyond saving.

[Nicholas R]

There is no chance that they would be salvageable after what they've been subjected to for all these years. Ever seen photos of a rusted shipwreck or photos of titanic wreckage? That salt water is just destroying them. They are WAY beyond saving.

Also this seems a little ridiculous to me:

But of course, no matter how sophisticated and cool the final product may have looked, few car companies seemed eager to get their hands on the technology behind stamping out obscenely heavy stainless steel body panels.

"Obscenely"?? come on

[john 05141]

Divers did go down to look at the dies. They are not really that far deep down. The dies were buried deep under the mudd, and this obviously protected them against corrosion, or so they say. Pictures were taken and these were or are still on use at an artist's exhibition where you can see that these dies (or what comes above the mudd) are used as housings for all sorts of seafloor creatures. (Pictures on the wall show the dies) There were ideas to raise mold only from the left front fender and restore it. The owner of the dies (the fishing company) found out what the idea was and raised the price to such a level it would no longer make sense.

This is what I have read somewhere and from a presentation at Eurofest last year where these dies were discussed. I can not tell if the above is true or not. How the mold was to be restored was also discussed in an article I read on the internet a year ago. The restoration would not be suitable for large serial production but perfectly good to manufacture at least 500 or so fenders.
I think this will never happen.

John

[MML]

Thanks for reminding me John, I forgot to post these!
I went to that particular exhibition in Belfast in February and took these photos. The panels are all one-offs made by hand by a guy whose name escapes me at the minute.
More here:
http://www.seanlynchinfo.com/DeLoreanProgressReport.htm
http://www.seanlynchinfo.com/DeLorea...ssReportII.htm

[Shep]

Didn't realize the molds were made of iron or steel. Guess I never really thought about it. I'm not sure they'd be as degraded as the Titanic considering it was about 20-25 years before the wreckage was discovered, and it's been 100 years after it sunk, but rust has undoubtedly taken it's toll on the dies. Shame the fishing company isn't up for a trade of scrap metal for the molds. (Or has no one asked?) I've often thought about taking the LFF off of my DeLorean when I get one (won't be long now) and have some spare time, making some sort of stiff mold, and reverse engineering the dies from that. Might be able to make a pretty penny or two

Nice pictures MML!