ENGINE COVER STAY ASSY (IMPROVED)

New and Improved for 2023!

When it came time to reproduce the engine cover stay assembly, we spent a lot of time looking at how we could improve it. In addition to being made of better materials, we wanted it to fit better - the factory part never seems to have a good fit with the center spine of the engine cover, often requiring modification that weakens the engine cover or the slider.

The first thing we did was make the “stay”, the trapezoidal-shaped part, out of stainless steel as opposed to plated steel so it would never rust. We also wanted them made to the latest factory design, from March of 1982, which put a bend in it as seen in the photos. This makes sure that it’s a good fit on all cars, with no added pressure on the engine cover. We also added the black spring and attaching hardware for the "slider to engine cover" and the "stay assembly to firewall" for a uniform appearance.

The upper and lower pivot blocks, the black plastic plates that hold the assembly to the firewall, were revised with a different, modern specification of plastic. We've never seen or heard from them breaking, and we're so confident you won't have a problem with them that we offer a lifetime guarantee on these two components against breakage. 

Then we took a good look at the plastic slider. Many of the originals would, when the engine cover was forced too far up, rip the slider out of the engine cover as a result of poor fit or not enough material after the mounting holes were drilled. A common feature of earlier attempts to improve this part included an extra set of mounting holes in the slider for just this reason - when the factory holes ripped out, you could use the new slider and make new holes. This goes back to our first goal of a better fitment to the engine cover.

We thought we wanted the slider to be stronger, to resist breaking - the reason many have been replaced over the years. In fact, our previous part (inherited from the old DeLorean Motor Center in California) was all metal for just this reason. As a result, the slider wouldn’t break, but it would rip out of the engine cover completely.  For this reason, we chose to stick with plastic construction but improved the material selection to something that would better withstand the underhood environment.

After testing and much discussion, we realized that the slider could act as a “fuse”, to protect the engine cover from damage. If the slider could break first, then you’d only need to replace the slider, as opposed to either replacement or repair of the $700 engine cover.

Comes complete as shown above with all hardware required for installation.