Canon20DFan
07-12-2011, 10:05 PM
So I’m driving home from a movie in my Delorean about 3 months ago and I ran over a landscaping rock. I thought I could straddle it, but the rock was too tall by a fraction of an inch. There was a bigger rock in the oncoming lane, and a curb strike on the right would certainly tear up the front end. I had a fraction of a second to decide what to do, and decided that less damage would probably occur by running over the rock. The rock creased the frame right under the rack and pinion steering gear, guaranteeing a visit to a repair shop. Immediately I felt damage to the steering, but limped the car home. My insurance company (American Family) has been great; they paid the entire front-end repair bill (less my deductible and transport costs). I have a standard policy with them, unlimited mileage, and a fairly inexpensive premium.
Josh Bengston of Delorean Performance Industries has flown out to Denver a couple of times to work on our cars, and the Colorado Delorean owners have always swamped him with work (as you can imagine). He’s replaced my front shocks and rear axles during one of his trips, so I decided to send my frame damage to DPI in Ohio. I had to change this year’s vacation plans to trailer my car to Tallmadge, OH but am glad I did it.
In the course of repairing the crumple zone, the radiator had to be removed. The coolant was badly contaminated, and when backflushes failed to clean the block out, I authorized an engine disassemble to clean it out properly. I don’t know where the contaminant came from; I’ve had my water pump replaced locally so I wasn’t on the original coolant. As you can see in the photos, my VOD was also flooded. I also had a main engine seal leak and timing valve cover leak, so pulling the block was a good thing to do.
The frame was pretty dirty from the leaks, so DPI cleaned up the frame, engine, plumbing and transmission. I was able to get spousal approval for DPI’s Spec 1 exhaust as my original heat shield had flaked apart. Not only does DPI’s exhaust take up less room in the engine bay, it’s far quieter at highway speed while still having a nice growl around town.
During the reassemble, DPI tuned my engine, removed the Nology ignition and polished the heads/valves. During my 1,500 mile drive back from Ohio to Colorado, I got tankful after tankful at 25+ mpg, with the A/C on @ 70 mph. The engine has never been so quiet or efficient. The engine temp was rock steady even though the three days on the road were near 100 degrees.
I’m very impressed with DPI and the work they did on my Delorean; I can’t say enough good things about Josh and his commitment to his customers. I highly recommend him for any work you may have.
Josh Bengston of Delorean Performance Industries has flown out to Denver a couple of times to work on our cars, and the Colorado Delorean owners have always swamped him with work (as you can imagine). He’s replaced my front shocks and rear axles during one of his trips, so I decided to send my frame damage to DPI in Ohio. I had to change this year’s vacation plans to trailer my car to Tallmadge, OH but am glad I did it.
In the course of repairing the crumple zone, the radiator had to be removed. The coolant was badly contaminated, and when backflushes failed to clean the block out, I authorized an engine disassemble to clean it out properly. I don’t know where the contaminant came from; I’ve had my water pump replaced locally so I wasn’t on the original coolant. As you can see in the photos, my VOD was also flooded. I also had a main engine seal leak and timing valve cover leak, so pulling the block was a good thing to do.
The frame was pretty dirty from the leaks, so DPI cleaned up the frame, engine, plumbing and transmission. I was able to get spousal approval for DPI’s Spec 1 exhaust as my original heat shield had flaked apart. Not only does DPI’s exhaust take up less room in the engine bay, it’s far quieter at highway speed while still having a nice growl around town.
During the reassemble, DPI tuned my engine, removed the Nology ignition and polished the heads/valves. During my 1,500 mile drive back from Ohio to Colorado, I got tankful after tankful at 25+ mpg, with the A/C on @ 70 mph. The engine has never been so quiet or efficient. The engine temp was rock steady even though the three days on the road were near 100 degrees.
I’m very impressed with DPI and the work they did on my Delorean; I can’t say enough good things about Josh and his commitment to his customers. I highly recommend him for any work you may have.