[DML] DeLorean Thoughts While Raking Pine Straw ( Very Long)

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As I cleaned up pine straw all afternoon at the church, using antique
rake technology thank you very much, I thought long & hard about
DeLorean fuel delivery:

Where to begin?

How about the admittedly true observation that carburetion is an older
technology no longer used by automobile manufacturers? Not to point
out the obvious, but K-Jet itself is an older technology no longer
used by automobile manufacturers. If that is one's standard of
acceptable DeLorean fuel delivery, then every owner should convert to
MegaSquirt (did I just hear an "Amen" from the EFI'ers?).

How about the admittedly true observation that carburetion is a
minority fuel delivery method, far outnumbered by forced injection?
What exactly does that prove? Red heads are far outnumbered by
brunettes -- should they all dye their hair brown? Independent films
draw far smaller crowds than Hollywood blockbusters. My beloved
Cheerwine is drunk in far smaller quantities than Coke or Pepsi? What
exactly does the number of anything have to do with anything?

Back to older technology before I move on: As I drove the last
truckload of pine straw to the street, shifting gears in my straight
drive truck, it occurred to me that manual transmissions are the
oldest technology out there, embraced by fewer and fewer Americans
every year? Does this mean that 5 speed DeLorean owners should
transplant Renault automatics?

Oboes and violins are definitely antiquated instruments. The best ones
are made with very dated techniques (hand made). Should symphony
orchestras be disbanded, or forced to convert to electric instruments?

I could go on like this ad infinitum, but you get the point. What does
being vintage have to do with anything? (Am I the only one who sees
the irony of drivers of 27 year old automobiles complaining about
dated technology?) What does number of users have to do with anything? 

Oh: The supposed bombshell against carburetion -- everyone loves to
pull out the "DeLorean vendor" trump card. Would Rob or Houston be any
more or less willing to work on a MegaSquirted PRV than a carbureted
one? How many owners actually have their cars worked on by Rob or
Houston anyway? Just because an owner uses a carb for fuel delivery
does not mean that he or she will not be buying fuel filters, interior
fittings, door struts, etc from the vendors. Only K-Jet specific
components are eliminated from the purchasing mix.

One last observation before I wax philosophic: The Motorcraft 2150 was
used by Ford through the end of the 1982 model year. That makes it
very contemporary for DeLorean usage (unless your vehicle is an '83 I
guess).

Now for the philosophy: Every DeLorean owner should make *ALL* vehicle
choices (wheel size & design, sound system, exterior finish, etc, as
well as fuel delivery) according to his or her own careful and
objective cost/benefit analysis. Simply following a fad, or making an
emotive decision, is unlikely to yield satisfactory results in the
long run. Regarding fuel delivery in particular (let's assume the PRV
itself is retained), for some owners that analysis is going to point
towards multiport EFI. For others, it is going to point to throttle
body EFI. For some it is going to point to K-Jet. And for an
admittedly small number of owners it is going to point to carburetion.

I suppose it could even point to pouring fuel into the engine from a
Coke bottle. If such an owner has done his or her cost/benefit
analysis objectively and completely, who would anyone else be to
question it?

The big stumbling block for the above philosophy is intake manifolds.
MegaSquirt can be installed around a K-Jet manifold. Throttle body EFI
and carburetion can not (at least not reasonably -- trust me, I
studied that option extensively). If an owner were to carefully and
objectively determine that carburetion is his or her best choice, the
simple lack of a suitable intake manifold would force that owner into
using what his or her very analysis revealed was a less optimal fuel
delivery method. That's the whole reason I pursued this intake
manifold project. If an owner truly decides that carburetion is the
best choice, I would like a suitable manifold to be available.

I harbor no illusions of a mass conversion to carburetion. I fully
expect requests for manifolds to be very occasional and very
infrequent. That is why I'm not stocking up on the things. The
machinist I am working with is willing to make one off fabrications
whenever requested. If two or three years go by before the next
request, that's cool with him. He doesn't want to be in the DeLorean
carburetion business any more than I do. I simply want owners to have
all options available to them.

Oh -- almost forgot my best thought! Diversity is good. Monolithism
and dogmatism are bad. When diversity is discouraged and stamped out,
you start down a slippery slope towards fascism and totalitarianism.
Human history is tragically replete with examples of people being
forced and coerced into narrow options and patterns not of their own
choosing. When I use the term "K-Jet Nazis," it is not entirely tongue
in cheek....

Back to antique instruments: The likes of ELO, Emerson Lake & Palmer,
and Jethro Tull successfully married "outdated" string and wind
instruments to cutting edge rock & roll. I'd put their work up against
the best that Mariah Carey has ever cranked out. Is progressive rock
any different than a carbureted DeLorean (except that the remaining
car couldn't be called "cutting edge" with a straight face)?

Speaking about Farrar in particular: It is extremely demeaning to him
to insinuate that his fuel delivery choice was not made as carefully
and objectively as he could. The man is an adult. He makes complex
decisions every day. None of us has any more right to invalidate this
one than we do his decisions of where to live, occupation to work,
leisure activities to pursue, partners to date, and so on. 

Is this post long enough yet? Oh well, these things needed to be said.
Two owners have told me off list that they are intentionally forgoing
DCS because of prevailing attitudes of intolerance and arrogance. I
can't say that I relish the thought of being subjected to such abuse
myself, which I know awaits even if I manage to escape Ken's judged
contests. But the truth can be a cruel mirror. If this community tries
to force independent and autonomous owners to do things with their
cars that they do not want to do, that is bad. If this community tries
to ostracize owners or make them feel like second class citizens for
making decisions that are rightfully within their purview, that is
bad. If this community does such things, the lifestyle of DeLorean
ownership will suffer.

'nuff said -- I need to take a shower now because after cleaning up
pine straw all afternoon (with an antique and outdated rake, hauling
it to the street in an antique and outdated truck, shifting my antique
and outdated gears!), I smell so bad that even I can't stand me.

Bill Robertson
#5939






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