You don't need to disassenble the engine to change the ignition wires although you will have to loosen the idle motor. You should be alright after changing the wires and it is a good idea as long as you are there to at least clean and regap the spark plugs if you aren't going to replace them. Chances are you did no permanant damage to the engine or catalytic converter but you probably burnt the outside of the muffler up and maybe even damaged the heat shield. The muffler can be repainted with high temp silver and the shield replaced. It is asbestoes so try not to make a lot of dust when removing it and immediatly place it in a double sealed plastic bag. Dispose of properly according to local regs. Most areas have a hazardous pickup site you can take it to. If you still want to take everything apart you might consider doing a major service on the cooling system, replacing the water pump, belts, seals, gaskets, and hoses. This will get expensive so be prepared. It depends on if it was ever done. You may also break some bolts in the process. David Teitelbaum vin 10757 --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Scott Tester <scott@xxxx> wrote: > I took my DeLorean to the car wash a week ago and degreased the engine with a pressure washer. After that it started sputtering and had a severe loss in power. I pulled a few spark plug wires and of coarse determined that the problem was water in the spark plug wells. I knew after seeing it that I would have to disassemble the top of the engine to replace the spark plugs and wires. > > The possible problem is that tonight when I came back from the grocery store I noticed the engine felt hotter than normal, so I opened the engine bay. I was in shock as I saw that my header was red hot, glowing in the dark of my garage! Have I damaged the engine by driving it just a few miles in this condition? I'm pretty sure it's just fuel building up and then burning hotter in one or more of the cylinders that doesn't fire every revolution. But I'm worried it might have warped or damaged the engine in some way! > > Has anyone else experienced this? I checked the archives and all I could find was mentions of a leaking header gasket causing the "glowing header". > > Any help would be appreciated... > > Thanks! > > Scott Tester scott(at)delorean(dot)com > > > _____________________________________________________________ > It's not too late to get your 1/18 scale Diecast DeLorean model! To order, call 800/USA-DMC1 or visit our online store at http://www.delorean.com > > _____________________________________________________________ > Select your own custom email address for FREE! Get you@xxxx w/No Ads, 6MB, POP & more! http://www.everyone.net/selectmail?campaign=tag