Living the Dream - VIN 0628

[JBaker4981]

VIN 0628 is a March '81 build with an Automatic Transmission and Black Interior.

Life Throughout the Years

Chestnut Fleet Rental, DE: (Aug '81- Unknown) The original owner of the car was Chestnut Fleet Rental, a vehicle rental company based in Delaware where it was used for a short time.
Thomas Crabtree, KY: (Unknown - Aug '86) The second owner had the car for a few years until he sold it to Carrol. There are only a few records of this owner in the documentation that I have.
Carrol Conrad, CT: (Aug '86 - Jan 2018 ) Carrol Conrad owned 0628 until his death in 2009. He purchased the car with somewhere in the vicinity of 10,200 miles on the odometer. He cared for the car greatly as he kept dozens of receipts and great maintenance records over the years. After his death, the car sat for many years until the family contacted Rob Grady and got it to his shop in NY where it sat for a while.
Tom Neiland, NY: (Jan '18 - June '19) Tom purchased the car from the family through Rob Grady in which the car was not running at the time. Tom spent the next 12-15 months restoring the car from the ground up and then posted it for sale on DMCTalk.org where I found the listing.


A Little Bit about Me
I'm 31 (at the time of writing) and am an IT Manager for a large Home Decor company. I live with my wife in Cookeville, TN and have been a DeLorean enthusiast since I was 5 or 6. At that time, I discovered the BTTF movies and fell in love with the fictitious looking Time Machine. When I was 7, my grandpa and I went to the old Walmart in Rivergate, TN where there was a Red DeLorean in the parking lot. Astonished by the fact that they existed, I was hooked. Later that year, my grandpa took me to a car museum in Nashville, TN to see a Batmobile replica and there was a '81 DeLorean with Black Interior and Manual Transmission. I was in love with the car going forward.

As I started to grow, I joined the Entermyworld.com forums (now called DMCTalk these days) back in 2003 and started to meet and associate with owners and folks within the community. Went to DCS 2004 in Pigeon Forge, TN and to DCS 2006 in Chicago, IL and continued to meet the community and learn about the car. A few thousand posts later on the old forum and several tech sessions under my belt, I was in college and fell off the band wagon. Life Happens and the old forum crashed in 2011. I resurfaced, more social on Facebook Groups over the last few years and as I started my actual career in 2012, I started to get back into the community. Over the last couple of years, my desire to finally live the dream had become an actual goal of purchasing one in 2020.

My Goal was a 1981 DeLorean with an Automatic Transmission and Grey Interior.

Discovering the Car
Tom posted VIN 0628 for sale in April 2019 on this forum and in this thread (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?17295-Early-1981-Automatic-Black-Interior-Completely-Refurbished). In June, I was browsing the forum and came across the post for an Automatic with Black Interior. Reading the description, the massive list of everything that Tom had done to the car, and viewing the pictures 10x over, I felt that the car spoke to me. I saw his asking price and did the math.... shocked that I could afford it already. I thought, "It's not time yet" and I put the idea to rest. That idea of owning one and being able to afford it kept eating away at me for a week and I ended up discussing it with my wife. Fully supportive, she told me to just talk to the seller.

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Tom and I discussed the car via PMs, texts, phone calls for nearly a week and a half. I was very intrigued and the thought of living the dream kept eating at me. My wife said "Do It". I thought that I had better wait. My mom of all people talked me into it. Her logic was simply this: If I don't purchase it now and enjoy it, then by the time we have kids and am in a position to buy one 10-20 years later, the cost would be far more significant due to the value appreciation. Her logic was sound IMO. We all know that in 2011, the $25,000 rule was still a thing. Less than 2 years later, the value jumped. Now cars like this are going for $40s - $50s on eBay. Ok, this is it.

We arranged for Payment and officially purchased the car on June 26, 2019. A few days later, I had the car registered and insured in TN. At this point, I did not want to spend the $$$$ on transporting it down to TN so I decided to road trip it back home. Now to go get the car...

DeLorean Day - July 4th, 2019
My mom and I have done many road trips for her home business so naturally she wanted to go with. We boarded our flight from BNA to MDW on the morning of July 4th. Our connecting flight from MDW to ISP was delayed by several hours. Tom picked us up at the Airport in Long Island and took us to his house where they had a fantastic dinner waiting for us. Tom showed me around the car, all of the items that had been addressed, and many more. I was smiling from ear to ear the entire time that we were there. It didn't feel real.

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Tom and his wife are absolutely the nicest of the nice. Along with everything that was included with the car, they provided us with a spare alternator, belts, oil filter, tool kit, fuses and bulbs, original radio, sheepskin seat covers, and money for the drive home. We couldn't believe it and I still cannot thank them enough for their generosity and kindness. Absolutely the best people!

At around 9:30pm, we headed out with the car packed up to begin our journey home. Unfortunately, our Holiday Inn in Long Island didn't have the best AC and neither one of us could sleep so we decided to throw our bags back in the car and take off around 11:30pm to see if we could hit PA before we were tired. We set off and the car drove amazingly well. Sometime after we got into New Jersey, my mom mentioned that she felt something drip onto her ankle. Then water poured onto her feet. Crap, I bet the drain tube was clogged. NY doesn't have the humidity that we do in the South so naturally there was no reason for Tom to ever run the AC on Max - 4 for two hours straight. For this fat guy though, I always run AC but not anymore. AC off and it was smooth sailing. We found a Hotel sometime around 2am and crashed.
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Day 1 - July 5th, 2019
Awake around 10am, I went out try to clear the clog in the drain tube. No luck, nothing was coming out of the tube all though I could see where water had traveled out of it. I looked at the lower evaporator case under the dash and could feel where it was wet but could not visually see a source. I checked the fluids, we packed up, and off we went. Along the way, the temperature gauge was getting pretty warm but not up to 220. There was a point in time that I did look down and it was sitting on 220 for I'm not sure how long, but at that point, we only had less than 5 miles to go before our stop for the evening. We met up with some fellow DeLorean friends, Christian Dietrich and Paul Shoremount, for a great dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Winchester, VA.

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After a great dinner, Christian and Paul looked over 628 and suggested using 'Water Wetter' which supposedly lowers the temps by 20 degrees. Why not! I want to get this home safely. We let my car cool and went to a couple of Autozone places. I picked up some 50/50 and Water Wetter and Christian, being the great guy that he is, bought it. Thank you again! Paul invited me over to his house to service the car some. My mom and I found a hotel, got checked in, and I went over to Paul's. We found the source of the AC Condensation Leak - A V Shaped nick in the lower evaporator casing, possibly from heels or another type of pointed shoe. We patched it as best as we could and also added Water Wetter to the cooling system. After vaccuming as much of the water out as I could, Thankful for the great friends that I have already met on this trip, I departed back to the hotel.

Day 2 - July 6th, 2019
Up and Out by 10am, We ventured home. Unfortunately, our patch work on the evap case didnt solve our issue, it only made a solid stream of water. The engine temps were noticeably better, hovering around 180. Both of us were dead set on finding a Waffle House for lunch and around 2pm somewhere down I-81 in Virginia, we finally found one... but they were full with a line out the door. Taco Bell it is then. When ordering, I looked back at the car due to folks taking pictures and noticed a river of coolant running away from the car. S**t. I was internally in panic mode and went out to the car. After we ate lunch, I spoke to Tom on the phone about the possibilities and we decided to run up the road to Autozone which was not even 200 yards away. I couldn't get the coolant bottle cap off, it took an act of God for myself and an Autozone employee to twist it off. The bottle was about about 1/3rd full so I added more. I am fairly certain that this was self inflicted.... I didn't put the cap on the bottle but only half way the prior night and I am sure that air got into the system.

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We got back on the road with the windows down, still sweating like two fat kids but the car was driving great. Temps were operating around 180 and we cruised home. My only concern was going up a very large mountainous stretch of I-40 which is an uphill climb for about 4 miles around the Harriman/Rockwood area. I was expecting the worst but I was getting familiar with the car and understanding how she was operating. She took the mountain like a champ even though her temps crept towards 220, it never it 220. Victory. We made it home around 6:45pm that evening. Both of us were glad to walk into a freezing cold house and the wife was shocked at how low the car was. The car was finally home... The dream was home.

Life After the Voyage Home
Since having it home, I have already swapped out and replaced a few things with the car including but not limited to the following:

DPI Fans with Fan Shroud
Dave's Fan Relay
Dave's Fan Fail Unit
Fan Circuit Breaker (20A)
Blue LED Door Lights
Drain Tube (re-routed for better flow)
Completely Patched the Lower Evap Casing


The car has never ran better or cooler. The cooling system upgrades that I have already done are a huge help especially with our humid and very hot weather in TN. The A/C gets used every time I drive the car with no more water in the passenger floorboard. Though some issues have came up since purchasing the car, 628 is an absolute dream.

Going forward, I will be documenting 0628 in this thread such as upgrades, maintenance, events, etc.

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[Riley88]

all great upgrades and what a great story man!

[JBaker4981]

Over the last two months of ownership, I have been having a great time with VIN 628 AKA 'LoriAnn'. Here are just a few instances of the ventures that this car has already taken me on.

Old Theatre
During the first month, the car was stored at an off-site garage that I was renting space in Sparta, TN which I have only been to a hand full of times. Through the many attempts that were made to fully seal the lower evaporator case with JB Weld, caulk, and roofing materials, I came to know a few roads that I've never traveled and essentially dubbed it my 'test course'. My Best Friend had not had a ride in the D yet and he said he'd come with to try to seal the case, re-route a new drain tube, and we'd ride around. At this time, I had pulled the passenger side carpet due to the condensed water but he didn't care. He fell in love with the car as I had. Upon pulling off of my usual test course, we stumbled upon a beatiful theatre called the Oldham.
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TN DMC Meet Up
Right as I purchased the car, one of our fellow members on here started a thread regarding Nashville owners. This prompted me to start a Facebook Group called TN DeLorean Owners where I met a few of our members. At the time, I do not believe that none of us had actually met one another. One of our members owns a Drive-In in Middle TN and their annual 80's movie weekend was coming up. He decided to show BTTF on one of the screens and we all decided to meet up. A total of four DeLoreans were in attendance and was the most that city ever had at one time as well as the Theatre. I was such a great time and always a joy talking with our fellow owners. It was pretty great to draw such a large crowd as well!
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Cookeville Cars and Coffee
Vintage Planet of Cookeville, TN hosts a Cars and Coffee morning every now and then. I decided to attend since it was literally in my back yard. She sure knows how to draw attention by just sitting there.
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General Use
While I am not Daily Driving the D, I do drive it a couple of times a week either for an evening cruise, run a couple of errands, or commute to the office (once every other week). While I am still very wary on my temperatures, voltage, and oil pressure and still watch them like a hawk, the more I drive it, the more at ease I am about it. One of the below pictures is from cruising on a hot ass day with the car running very smoothly, the other picture is my wife in the car right after we just loaded the entire rear shelf of the car up with groceries
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[JBaker4981]

all great upgrades and what a great story man!

Thanks man! I am planning on replacing all of the relays with Dave's and am in the process of changing out all of the bulbs in the car to LED plus much more on the project list.

[Rich_NYS]

Great thread!

I was watching the listing of this car and knew somebody would be very satisfied with the purchase, knowing Tom had gone through it.

Congratulations!

[SS Spoiler]

We need more stories like this!

[Timeless]

We need more stories like this!
For sure. Theses are the stories that will pass on to the next generation of custodians of these cars. :cheers:

[JBaker4981]

Thanks so much guys! I will keep them coming :)

[Domi]

Thanks for sharing your story with really cool pictures :thumbup:

[JBaker4981]

Oil Change Day

Date: 09/21/19
Mileage: 36,878
Oil Type: Castrol GTX 20W-50

Today marks the first oil change of VIN 628 under my ownership. The goal was to swap the original drain plug with an EZ Oil Drain Valve from Toby Peterson up at DeLorean Parts NW and change the oil and oil filter. The EZ Oil Valve was the toughest part of the job as I could never get it to index the way that I wanted (with the release at the 12 O'Clock position). After learning from my mistakes of pouring fresh oil way to quickly, I was able to complete the job and run the engine for about 25 minutes to burn off the spilled oil that I could not clean up.

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Air Filter
While the engine was draining, I swapped the air filter which really needed it. I ordered an Air Filter from DMCH and I believe that I am going to test out that washable K&N Air Filter that I have seen many other owners use. Anyway, I was hoping that I could remove the top half of the airbox without disconnecting the air intake but alas, I discovered two hinges that I wouldn't be able to get to without taking the entire thing out. Swapped the air filter and I am sure that the car is able to breathe a whole lot better.

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LED Interior Dome Lights
My original front interior dome light was trashed - It had multiple cracks in the assembly between the positive and negative connections and it intermittently worked. I ordered a replacement Dome Light from DeLorean Go which is an updated version. The three connectors are all next to each other as opposed to the original having two on one side and one on the other. I ended up finding a picture of a different dome light being used from a VW but the connectors were the same so I decided to wire it up in the same manor. If we popped an LED due to connecting it wrong, so be it.

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I also focused on swapped the rear dome light to LED but I never could get the dome light out of the trim panel... I believe it was either glued in by a PO or the factory glued it in (another super-early VIN quirk). I dropped the cargo net hooks and then pulled down the rear panel of the shelf followed by the trim panel itself. From this angle, it was still not going to come out of the panel... definitely glued in. LED Swapped, tested, and everything replaced.

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[tommyrich]

Jesse,
Very nice history of the car. My goal was for it to go to someone who would really appreciate it...accomplished. I wish you many happy years with the car and the Delorean community!
Tom

[JBaker4981]

Jesse,
Very nice history of the car. My goal was for it to go to someone who would really appreciate it...accomplished. I wish you many happy years with the car and the Delorean community!
Tom

Thank you so much for everything Tom. It was truly a pleasure doing business with you and the car is an absolutely masterpiece.

[JBaker4981]

More LEDs!

Date: 10/17/19
Mileage: 37,022
Source: Super Bright LEDs

Progress and general fun with 628 had slowed to a crawl over the last three weeks due to business travel up to NY for 10 days as well as other work related projects. Back to it!

LED Flasher Relay
Part Number: CF13GL-02

Looking in the workshop manual, I was able to identify the location of the relay under the dash. I had read issues regarding the socket that the relay plugs into crumbling due to age when it is messed with. Luckily it looks like Tom (the PO) replaced this too. Cool! Out with the old and in with the new.

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Side Marker Lights
Part Number: BA9S-AHP5 (2)
Part Number: BA9S-RHP5 (2)

The lights on the right side of the car had started to become very dim so I wanted to go ahead and swap these for LEDs. Unscrewing the side marker lenses and disassembling the light housing was easy enough. Not much else can be said about it other than the new lights are extremely bright for both sides.

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Front Turn Signals
Part Number: 1157-AHP28-T-2PK

Next was the turn signals though I have to admit, it took a little bit of encouragement to get the inner screw removed from both lights. Neither of them were stuck, just simply stubborn to pull away from the nut that they threaded into. Once I had both lights replaced, I tested the blinkers and hazards just to make sure that they did in fact work as intended with the new relay. Man these things are bright!

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Headlight and Hazard Switch Lights: Round 2
Part Number: 74-R
Part Number: 74-B

Previously, I blew my number 8 fuse due to the headlight switch LED. I recalled that there was a modification that needed to be done to the LED in order for it to not pop a fuse. I ordered three of each color just in case. The #74 LED has two wires that wrap around the base of the LED that was designed so that they would work not matter the direction that you installed it in. In this case, the two wires have to be cut short to prevent them from running around the other side of the bulb. I applied the 'mod' to both switches and presto! I finally have lights in these switches!

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Random Pictures of 628 at the office last Sunday

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[JBaker4981]

Electrical Issues

Date: 10/21/19 - 10/27/19
Mileage: 37,189

A few weeks ago when come back from Lebanon, TN, the Fan Fail Unit started blinking 3 times indicating that the relay was getting above 85C. Sure enough it was. I spoke with multiple people who advised to check the grounds and a few other items which all seemed OK. Dave advised that I replace the Ground Buss on the Front Relay Bank which will be done in time however due to time constraints, I was not going to be able to accomplish this myself.

I decided to pull every relay, fuse, circuit breaker, and connection and cleaned them with QD Electrode Cleaner.

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CoverCraft Dash Mat

Date: 10/24/19
Mileage: 37,189
Source: CoverCraft

Back in the beginning of October, I ordered a CoverCraft Dash Mat. This one is Suede and the color is 'Smoke'. I saw many pictures in DMCTalk of many folks with Grey and Black from Cover Craft. IMO, the Black looked darker than the event horizon of a black hole and the Grey looked really light and very saturated. No one posted about the 'Smoke' color so I took a gamble with it. I am very pleased with the way that it looks!

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[JBaker4981]

Belts and Tension

Date: 10/31/19
Mileage: 37,219
Source: Vintage Planet

In Preparation for a Wedding that I have rented 628 out for - I noticed that the AC Compressor and the Alternator/Water Pump Belts were loose and needed to be tightened. Naturally, the new belts that are on the car have stretched over time and the tension brackets needed adjustment. Due to severe time constraints for the Wedding and me not wanting to risk loosening the bracket and not being able to tighten the Alternator Belt, I made an appoint with Vintage Planet to have them adjust them on 10/31. I took the car over and they had it done in about 30 minutes. While I waited, the below picture was the gorgeous view I had. They had a great showroom of Classic, Antique, and Very Rare Cars. Highly Recommend them to everyone. They also have extensive knowledge on Bosch K-Jet as well (good to note).

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Electrical Issues (Continued) & New Relays

Date: 11/01/19
Mileage: 37,237
Source: DeLorean Go

Along with cleaning all of the electrical connections car, I also opted to order new relays from DeLorean Go. The Change Over Relays that DeLorean Go offer sounded like a good upgrade and I've heard that they are comparable to DMCH's Upgraded Relays (the purple ones) however I cannot justify spending $25 for 1 relay from DMCH. I also opted to replaced the RPM Relay, Lambda Relay, Circuit Breakers, Main Relay, and Accessory Relay. I ordered 3 40A Circuit Breakers and only installed one to replace the Fan Circuit Breaker as I read that installing a 40A CB inplace of the other two can have negative effects (unsure on this but very cautious).

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Here is what the inside of the DeLorean Go RPM Relay looks like compared to the original

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Stolen Idea: Blocking Off the Doors

Date: 11/01/19
Mileage: 37,237
Source: Walmart

Daniel Potter, another DeLorean Owner in Middle Tennessee, showed me his idea of using these spring tension rods to put on the striker pins. He sent me a link to the product on Amazon at one point but I could not find it, so I went to Walmart and found these for $4.97 each. Works Perfect! Thanks Daniel!

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Loading The Trunk/Bonnet

Date: 11/01/19
Mileage: 37,237

As Dave Tavres on DeLorean Talk asks each owner in his Podcast, What is in your trunk?

Normally, I carry the following items marked with an Asterisk but also packed the car with all of this :

Tools*
Prestone 50/50*
SunShade*
Funnel*
Paper Towels*
Stainless Steel Care Kit*
Towels*
Spare Fuses*
Spare Belts*
Two Flashlights
Alternator (Spare)
Circuit Breakers
Light Bulbs
Original Relays (just in case)
Car Cleaning Chemicals
Car Cleaning Towels
Car Cover
Door Bars
DeLorean Bra (Mounted)


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[JBaker4981]

Road Trip, DeLoreans, and a Wedding

Date: 11/02/19 - 11/04/19
Mileage: 37,237 - 37,968

Road Trip to Memphis
DeLorean 628 was rented out for a wedding in Memphis, TN for Saturday 11/2. Up, packed, and out the door by 6am, I looked checked all of the fluids one last time and let 628 warm up. It was a cold, nippy morning at 28 degrees. I through my dufflebag and backpack in the passenger floorboard and took off at 6:30am with 11 hours to get to Memphis, check into the hotel, and detail the car. Throughout the week, I had reached out to my fellow DeLorean Owners down I-40 just in case I had any issues especially since I had been worried about my electrical issue. As a precaution, I took the board off of the top of the fuse compartment to let it breathe and to also see how how the relays were getting even with additional air flow.

Over the course of the trip, I kept checking the relays which I am happy to report that they were mostly cool (barely warm at times). The drive out was very calm and complete with Dave Tavre's DeLorean Talk Podcasts to keep me company.

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More DeLoreans
One of the plans for the morning was to meet up with one of our fellow TN DeLorean Owners in Jackson, TN and to see his car. I met him around 10am in the morning and was able to meet his car as well. We decided to run over to a TV/Movie Car Museum to meet another DeLorean Owner and check out his car as well. The car museum was 'Rusty's TV and Movie Cars' and Rusty's DeLorean is VIN 2726. After hanging out with Nathan for about 3 hours, it was time to scoot however we caravaned down I-40 for about 20 miles so that Nathan's car could stretch its legs. It's always fantastic to see multiple DeLoreans in one place not to mention the fact that both of us were driving our and looking at another DeLorean from behind the wheel of one made us both giddy. Neither of us had driven behind another. Nathan and I parted ways somewhere around exit 58 and I continued onward to Memphis.

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Detour and Time Crunch
Exit 42. I came up on this exit mere minutes after Nathan departed to which I saw a sea of brake lights. Fumbling for my smartphone, I pull of Google Maps and just hit 'go' on directions to Memphis in hopes to find out info on the crash. Side Note--- I am extremely familiar with most of TN, AR, and KY so I normally run without GPS. In this case, I am in the Memphis area way too much for my job and no where I am going. Google Maps show a 2 hour and 27 minute delay to get to Memphis -- this should take about 55 minutes from Exit 42. Shit. Google found an alternate route that was nearly all back roads so I took it. Nearly an hour and 15 minutes later, I was at my hotel in Memphis.

It's 3pm and I have to be in position at Mud Island at 5:30pm. Time to Check In. When I booked my reservation at the Crowne Plaza, I worked with the General Manager to have a dedicated parking spot coned off where they would be able to watch it from the front desk. Upon checking in, I come to the realization that these folks think that I am the one that is getting married and that I brought the car to my own wedding. Total Misunderstanding. I apologized for the mix up profusely and they were laughing about it. They had planned on putting Chocolate covered strawberries in the room as well as a few gifts during the wedding. Talk about amazing customer service but incredible embarrassment. That's ok though!

Once checked in and in my room, I ran down and started detailing the car in about an hour followed by detailing myself. Now it's wedding time!

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Wedding
Arriving at a park on Mud Island for the first stage of this evening, I put 628 in position and took a few photos while I waited on the Bride, Groom, and Photographer. Below are pictures from the photoshoot and I honestly cannot wait until I see the rest of them.

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The second phase of this evening is for the Bride and Groom to drive the car into their Wedding Reception at Jerry Lee Lewis on Beale Street and then to put the car on display for the evening. Everything went extremely well and the car drew a massive crowd :)

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Work and the Return Home
On Monday, I decided to pop into our facility in Southaven, MS so that I can officially meet my new employee that I had hired about 4 weeks prior. Little did I know that most of the day, folks would be asking if that was my DeLorean outside and etc. Pretty fun and made for a very interesting afternoon. My new hire is apparently a BTTF and nerd - he got a kick out of the car. I took him to lunch down in Hernando, MS to a little place called Junior's and he loved the ride. When we were about to leave, a red VW Van pulled up and I joked about the Libyans being outside. When we left, the VW fan caught up to us - a guy and his two boys were excited about the car and I popped the door open going down the road (they lost it). He motioned to me about pulling over and I thumbed up.

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The man and his boys were head over heels for the car. Very nice fella who loved classic cars and we talked about the car for about 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I didnt get any pictures of a red VW Van/Bus behind 628 and I regret that but it was a fun stop. Around 2:30pm, I cut out and headed home.

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The whole way home, the car did phenomenally and drove great. The drive was very calm until I got on I-840 to bypass Nashville due to a multitude of accidents and a rather alarming deer carcass. I'll spare the details but I ended up hitting said deer carcass with 628 but THANKFULLY there is not any damage whatsoever. The carcass was already torn up but it went under the car. I believe that the tow hook point on the front right of the car took all of the impact as that had a chunk of deer wrapped up in it and some flush hanging off of the bolts on the undercarriage. As soon as I got back to Cookeville, I pressure washed the underside of the car.

Disclaimer regarding the deer: I can say with very strong certainty that I got incredibly lucky with no damage to the car. I have gotten under the car twice since Monday and inspected as much I can and there seems to be absolutely zero signs of damage to anything. The car drives as straight as it always has, there are no leaks from the cooling system, suspension seems just fine, etc.

During the course of the drive, my electrical issue never resurfaced again though I had the cover off of the electrical bay. Since replacing all relays and cleaning every pin, contact, socket, etc, I am wondering if the original issue was possibly a loose connection. Will have to investigate in the future.

[Riley88]

This thread makes me want to drive my Delorean, so i am going to tomorrow lol

[JBaker4981]

This thread makes me want to drive my Delorean, so i am going to tomorrow lol

Do it man! You know what they say, the more these cars are driven, the better they get. I truly believe that at this point - I feel like 628 is absolutely solid


Side Note: I apologize for all of the grammatical errors in my last post - I was trying to get it posted before I had to host my weekly Friday meeting.

[louielouie2000]

The drive was very calm until I got on I-840 to bypass Nashville due to a multitude of accidents and a rather alarming deer carcass. I'll spare the details but I ended up hitting said deer carcass with 628 but THANKFULLY there is not any damage whatsoever. The carcass was already torn up but it went under the car. I believe that the tow hook point on the front right of the car took all of the impact as that had a chunk of deer wrapped up in it and some flush hanging off of the bolts on the undercarriage. As soon as I got back to Cookeville, I pressure washed the underside of the car.

Disclaimer regarding the deer: I can say with very strong certainty that I got incredibly lucky with no damage to the car. I have gotten under the car twice since Monday and inspected as much I can and there seems to be absolutely zero signs of damage to anything. The car drives as straight as it always has, there are no leaks from the cooling system, suspension seems just fine, etc.

Oh boy do I know this situation well. A group of us Carolina DeLorean owners were caravanning together to DCS '04 and we encountered the carcass of a very portly beagle on a highway merging ramp. The DeLoreans in front of me were all stock ride height, and drove right over the beagle without issue. My car was a "chop & swap" (very LOW to the ground) and I had a split second to react: do I swerve around the carcass and drive into the grass at highway speeds, or do I risk going over it and possibly damaging my car? I decided to drive over the dog like the other DeLoreans. I immediately realized I made the wrong decision; the beagle sounded like somebody dribbling a basketball underneath the car as it volleyed down the undercarriage; then came a loud scraping sound as it got stuck under my engine cradle and was being drug beneath the car. The whole thing probably only lasted a couple of seconds, but seemed like a very gross eternity. :lol:

That whole trip was a mess. My A/C was inoperable, my RPM relay gave out, so did my battery, and I cracked my radiator end tanks open on a concrete parking stop. I guess it could have been worse, though. Josh Haldeman crashed his DeLorean into a motel room and Darren Decker had a head-on collision in his DeLorean that DCS. Ahh, this thread makes me miss DeLorean road trips! :whip:

[JBaker4981]

Oh boy do I know this situation well. A group of us Carolina DeLorean owners were caravanning together to DCS '04 and we encountered the carcass of a very portly beagle on a highway merging ramp. The DeLoreans in front of me were all stock ride height, and drove right over the beagle without issue. My car was a "chop & swap" (very LOW to the ground) and I had a split second to react: do I swerve around the carcass and drive into the grass at highway speeds, or do I risk going over it and possibly damaging my car? I decided to drive over the dog like the other DeLoreans. I immediately realized I made the wrong decision; the beagle sounded like somebody dribbling a basketball underneath the car as it volleyed down the undercarriage; then came a loud scraping sound as it got stuck under my engine cradle and was being drug beneath the car. The whole thing probably only lasted a couple of seconds, but seemed like a very gross eternity. :lol:

That whole trip was a mess. My A/C was inoperable, my RPM relay gave out, so did my battery, and I cracked my radiator end tanks open on a concrete parking stop. I guess it could have been worse, though. Josh Haldeman crashed his DeLorean into a motel room and Darren Decker had a head-on collision in his DeLorean that DCS. Ahh, this thread makes me miss DeLorean road trips! :whip:

Louie,
Your incident with the beagle sounds pretty horrifying. I made the same judgement call but at the time that I merged over (and came up to the deer carcass), I was trying to get out of the gore that was all over the road. When I merged to the left lane, I could tell I was already sliding a bit so I chose the later of the two options that I had: 'Dodge' and possibly cause over-steer and loss of control or hit the bastard and hope it goes under.

What did you do for the mess and did the carcass cause any damage to your car? Sounds like a pretty rough, yet unforgettable trip.

I remember DCS 04 very well and also recall both DeLorean related accidents that occurred there. The head-on collision on the Tail of the Dragon could've been a lot worse but if I remember right, there was minor damage to the fascia and LF Fender.

[JBaker4981]

Two Guys, Two DeLoreans, Beer, and a World Record Holding Dog

Date: 11/17/19
Mileage: 38,041 - 38,277

Tech Morning
It was Sunday Morning, November 17th, and I had detailed LoriAnn (628) the evening before in preparation for another gig that I had acquired through RentDeLorean.com. This gig was a small film containing four different scenes of the DeLorean and a World Record holding Dog and was to be shot all over Nashville starting at 4pm. Having half of the day free, I met up with one of our fellow TN DeLorean Owners in Hendersonville, TN and helped in work on his car. We got quite a bit done including but not limited to new front brake pads, bled the brake system, and dove into his electrical system. It's always fun to work on these cars with friends regardless of the time of the year.

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Video Shoot
The shoot went well even with some minor set backs with a couple of filming locations. I will post the end result of the video here after a possible reshoot will take place and the video is finalized. This was my first video shoot and it was fun to see how it works from behind the scenes but unfortunately I failed to get many pictures during the evening.

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[JBaker4981]

Winter Project #1: New LED Headlights

Date: 12/03/19 - 12/04/19
Mileage: 38,278

One of the many projects that is on the list is new LED Headlights and to also perform the "Quad Mod". Using the parts from the DMC 10515 Blog (https://www.dmc10515.com/delorean-led-headlights/) as well as the instructions in DeLorean Tech's Quad H4 Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=XgJACoJo1zU&feature=emb_title), I was able to accomplish this within about 3 hours.

Parts List

Lightening Dark H4 LED Bulbs (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N67CQGQ/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) - $55.99 /pair - Qty 2
Partsam H4 9003 Wiring Harness (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HNVJML9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) - $13.99
H4 Headlights (4x6) - $20 /pair - Given to me by a buddy


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I carefully removed all of the headlights on the car by unscrewing the screws for the headlight brackets. Man, some of those a challenging to get to without having to remove the front fascia. I checked all of the old wiring and noticed that the driver's side high beam wire for the high beam socket had exposed wires. Not sure if it is weather or heat related, but I did not want to take any chances. I cut the positive and negative of that harness and used butt connectors to connect them to my H4 Wiring Harness from Amazon.

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Important Note on H4 Wiring: The H4 wiring harness (by design) is not compatible with the stock harness in the DeLorean. When wiring for an H4 bulb, you have to swap the High Beam and Low Beam wires (criss cross them). Honestly, you can do this in the stock harness if you do not want to use an H4 harness on the outer two headlights. Failure to flip the Hi/Lo wires will result in you running your high beams 24x7.

I used some extra 14 gauge wire to run to the inner two headlight harnesses. This was accomplished by installing a Tap Connector onto the Low Beam wire (blue/red) and then installing a spade connector onto the extra 14 gauge wire and plugging into the T-Tap. I ran the other end of the 14 gauge wire to the inner headlight and used a butt connector to connect it to the low beam wire on the H4 Harness that is used for the high beam headlight. I then plugged the remaining 2 wires from the H4 Harness into the stock DeLorean Harness for the High Beams.

I could draw out the length of this post and go step by step and into far more detail and can in another thread if anyone needs the information but at the end of it all, I tested the lights on one side before moving onto the next. Success!

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Now 628 has Dual High/Low LEDs in every headlight with low beam running on all 4 headlights as well. The difference is staggering and makes driving out here in the TN back roads & country a lot less stressful. Next thing on the list will be to replace either the wiring harness or the wiring itself of the driver side turn signal. It turns off when it wants but it functions just fine with the turn signal.

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Steering Wheel Pad
I purchased a steering wheel pad from the same buddy who gave me the H4 Glass and got around to installing it the same day I started the H4 Headlight project. Looks great! Thanks Daniel!

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[Mark D]

I hope you spent the time to adjust the headlights so you're not blinding everyone else as you drive down the road. Those LED replacement bulbs often scatter light more than a halogen bulb.

The halogen housings are designed to have the filament of the bulb in a particular location to be able to aim and disperse light correctly. The LED bulbs do not always line up with the focal point of the reflector which then makes it next to impossible to aim the low beams down far enough.

During the winter months I spend a lot of time driving in the dark and it is infuriating the number of people that retrofit their halogen housings with LEDs without doing any kind of adjustment. That, and truckers who tack on a set of LED "fog lights" that are aimed up higher than their low beams.

:mallet:

[JBaker4981]

I hope you spent the time to adjust the headlights so you're not blinding everyone else as you drive down the road. Those LED replacement bulbs often scatter light more than a halogen bulb.

The halogen housings are designed to have the filament of the bulb in a particular location to be able to aim and disperse light correctly. The LED bulbs do not always line up with the focal point of the reflector which then makes it next to impossible to aim the low beams down far enough.

During the winter months I spend a lot of time driving in the dark and it is infuriating the number of people that retrofit their halogen housings with LEDs without doing any kind of adjustment. That, and truckers who tack on a set of LED "fog lights" that are aimed up higher than their low beams.

:mallet:

Oh Boy do I know what you mean! I hate meeting folks who do not have their headlights adjusted. I DO need to go back and re-adjust which I hope to accomplish next weekend. I have one pointed at the ground, two in the trees, and one down the road which is shown in my night time driving picture in my last post.

Unfortunately, I am a perfectionist so I'm sure that adjusting them until I am happy with them is going to be very, very painful. The 2 adjustment screw on each one looks easy enough but I am OCD about things

[Patrick C]

I did not do the 4 low beam mod on mine. I figure it will blind other drivers. The factory could have easily done this with with the sealed beams if they thought it was safe...my $.02.

[JBaker4981]

Trip to the Country & DeLorean Ornaments
Date: 12/07/19
Mileage: 38,317 - 38,422

My family runs two things out of our family farm: an Animal Shelter and a couple of Etsy stores. Over the last couple of Christmas Seasons, our unbreakable, flat back Christmas Ornaments have been a huge seller inwhich the amount of daily orders are always overwhelming. I went out to the farm to every evening after I left the office and during the weekends for a couple of weekends to get orders knocked out. My mom asked that I bring 628 out so that her Boss could have a chance to take a look at it. A warm December day and 48 miles to the farm, we are tucked away in the foothills of Tennessee and nestled on the side of a Valley. Though there is no cell service within a 8 miles radius of the house, it is always a peaceful drive on the country roads.
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Before we shut down the stores for the Holidays, I made these for our Christmas Tree at home.
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Front Turn Signal and Extra Goodies
Date: 12/17/19
Mileage: 38,422

Knowing that the left turn signal wiring harness needed to be replaced due to intermittent connectivity when the parking lights are on, I went ahead and ordered a few extra items that I have wanted to pick up along with the order. Upon seeing that the harness and a front turn signal itself were $42.99 while the harness itself was $39.99, I picked up both together so that I can have a spare OEM lens just in case. I was able to pull the front grill loose and replace the harness with moderate ease once everything arrived on 12/17/19
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Parts List

Front Turn Signal / Indicator Lens Assembly - $42.99
(2) Console Panel Edging Strip - $15.98
(5) Instrument Cluster LED Bulb (Cool White) - $12.50
(3) Instrument Cluster LED Bulb (Green) - $7.50
Instrument Cluster LED Bulb (Amber) - $2.50
Instrument Cluster LED Bulb (Blue) - $2.50
Glove Box LED Bulb - $3.75
DeLorean Baseball Cap - $10.99


The LEDs will be installed at a later time as well as the Edging Strip.

[JBaker4981]

Christmas House Hunting
Date: 12/20/19

In preparation for a lot of Holiday Travel, the wife and I wanted one last date night before the two of us became very busy so we decided to take 628 out to look for Christmas houses. Christmas houses are a fairly 'big' thing for Cookeville as the city publishes a map of Christmas Houses throughout the city/county. In order to get put on the map, the home owners have to request this and there is an online poll where you can vote for the best Christmas house as well. One place in particular, a drive through Christmas light show, was not on the map and Laura mentioned that her and a friend of ours ran across it last year when they did this. We ended up finding this at Lonely G Ranch outside of Cookeville. Since there were no cars coming down the road and none behind us, I decided to pop the doors and snag a couple of pictures of the car as well.

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Another DeLorean Owner in Cookeville
Date: 12/21/19

Over the last month or so, I had become friends with a fella who just bought a DeLorean in October 2019 and was also in Cookeville. Due to time constraints for both of us, we had unable to meet up with our cars until recently. Two DeLoreans in one place truly drew a few people into the parking lot we were in. It was all good fun to talk to folks about the cars and of course meet each other. His car is 10233

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[JBaker4981]

Christmas Time for the DeLorean
Date: 12/31/2019
Mileage: 38,537

With Christmas over and done with, my Christmas List was comprised of primarily DeLorean parts in which quite a lot of received. I was able to install the Stainless Steel Engine Cover Grills with DMC Logo, a new Decal for the HVAC Panel, Center Console Switch Alignment Plate, and James' Cup Holders from DeLoreanGo. With the exception of below, I failed to take pictures of the process of installing all of this but alas it is done.

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The cup holders are absolutely wonderful and look stock. The SS Engine Covers make the back end pop a little bit more. I broke the rear defroster switch so I will have to order a new one but the alignment plate is wonderful. I ended up restoring the HVAC panel due to burn marks from the decades of use of incandescent bulbs by wet sanding the white paint off of the back, replacing the foam insulation on the top and sides, and installing the new decal (also using this time to install the side strips for the center console.

What is left is a Dead Pedal Kit from DPI, Dynamat which is a project itself, and a few other odds and ends.

[JBaker4981]

More McKeen Upgrades
Date: 01/06/2020
Mileage: 38,586

For the first upgrade of the new year, I decided to order a few more upgrades from David McKeen. The need for the Front Relay Ground Buss prompted the order so since I was placing one, I figured I'd better order a few things while I am at it. Though I had ordered some replacement relays from DeLoreanGo back in October, Dave's relays are far superior in every way and the D-Go relays were simply to buy more time until I ordered more McKeen items.

Parts List

RPM Relay
Lambda Relay
Headlight Relay
Front Relay Ground Buss

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The relays were installed easily as they are plug and play. The 'headlight' relay was installed into the Low Beam socket since the low beams will be used the most at night. I will order another headlight relay for the High Beam socket at a later time. The Front Ground Buss will be installed soon which should eliminate the issue of the front relay bank becoming very hot. The RPM Relay fixed some 'DeLorean' behavior when starting the car by auto-priming the system with fuel for 1.5 seconds when the ignition is turned to the 'ON' position. I no longer have to hold the gas pedal half way down when I turn the car on (either hot or cold). I love this RPM Relay way more than I probably should

[JBaker4981]

Sound Proofing: Phase 1
Date: 01/05/2020 - 01/12/2020
Mileage: 38,586

A project that I have wanted to do is to sound proof the DeLorean for engine noise, road noise, and to provide a bit of addition thermal insulation. I know that you can never "sound proof" or "deaden" the noise in a DeLorean, but for the sake of the thread and conversations I will continue to reference it as such or simply as 'Dynamat'. After much research, I decided to go with a knock-off Dynamat product from a company called Noico, specifically their 80mil sound deadening insulation. This insulation comes with 36 square feet in the box and has a layer of aluminum on top of the insulation.

This Dynamat project will be broken up into multiple phases and for this phase, I focused on the rear panel behind the seats.

Restoring the Rear Panel
After the cargo net hooks were removed, I tilted the panel forward from the top and lifted it up and removed it out of the car.
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Using a razor blade, I cut away the foam insulation from the panel to expose the edges of the carpet that is glued onto the back of the panel. I then used a putty knife to pry the carpet off of the wood and break what little seal was left from the 38+ year old glue
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Once I cleaned the back of the panel very well, I started to apply the Dynamat and cut the several pieces to fit the exact shape of the panel. Using a roller, I applied pressure to seal the insulation/glue to the wood panel, taking care to ensure that it was adhering correctly.
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I took the panel back home so that the glue for the next piece could cure in a warm environment. I used a 3M spray adhesive and applied it to the back of the carpet and directly onto the Dynamat, then crimped the carpet over and used clamps to apply pressure until the adhesive fully took hold. This was repeated going all the way around the panel until it was complete. Afterwards, the original foam insulation was reapplied to the correct positions using said spray adhesive. I let this cure while I went on a business trip for a few days.
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Upon reinstalling the completed rear panel, I had a hell of a time reinstalling the upper cargo net hooks that hold the rear panel back. The issue looked to be not being able to easily thread the screws into the riveted anchors that are directly under the rear window. I was able to secure the rear panel using the outer two hooks however I believe that I need to replace these hooks, screws, and anchors (or whatever these are called).
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[JBaker4981]

More LEDs!
Date: 01/16/2020
Mileage: 38,586

Tonight, I finally tackled installing LEDs into the Taillight Circuit Boards. The LEDs are from SuperBrightLEDs and have constantly exceeded my expectations for brightness and fitment.

Parts List (SBL Part Numbers)

(1) 1156-CW18-T-2PK - $11.90/ea
(3) 1156-R18-T-2PK - $11.90/ea
(1) 1156-A18-T-2PK - $11.90/ea

Total Cost: $59.50

All bulbs are the 1156 Type with different colors specified. You can use plain white but I find that colored LEDs bring more of a definitive contrast to the lenses. Three Red, 1 Amber, and 1 White (or Cool White) is used for each tail light board.
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The only thing left to replace with LEDs is the binnacle and the LED project will be complete!

[JBaker4981]

TN DeLorean Motor Club: January 2020 Meet
Date: 01/18/2020
Mileage: 38,586 - 38,749

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On January 18th, 2020, We (TNDMC) had our second meet and its first of the new decade. One of our newest members who owns VIN 10233, works at Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, TN. With his help, we arranged to have our second meet at the museum along with a private tour and afterwards, lunch at McNamara's Irish Restaurant. Unfortunately, the weather was not going to cooperate during the first half of the day with rain and moderate wind throughout most of Middle TN but this did not detour any of us.

Morning Meet
We all arrived around 10am and did a meet and greet. Some of us had not met others within our group so this was a first for many. We had a total of 6 Owners and 4 DeLoreans and a total of 10 people in our group (baby included). We all talked and checked out the cars. Our guy, Rex, had an Autozam AZ-1 out in the garage and parked it next to the DeLoreans. It is a very neat and quirky early-mid 90's Japanese Sports Car that is also Gullwinged.
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Lane Motor Museum Tour
We were taken through Lane Motor Museum on a private tour throughout their Vault and the main showroom. Lane Motor Museum is a museum of different, strange, and/or rare vehicles from the private collection of Mr. Lane himself. From cars, motorcycles, canoes, bicycles, to planes, this place had it all. We spent about 2-3 hours going through the museum itself which you could lose track of time if your are not careful. Many of these vehicles we had never seen or heard of before. A huge thank you goes out to Rex and the staff of Lane Motor Museum!
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Group Photos and Convoy
Once we had finished the tour, we all chatted for a while and Barry made the great suggestion of a group photo. Que obligatory group photos below! Afterwards, some of our folks went their own separate ways however we continued on to get lunch. I believe that this was the first time that we all had been in a convoy of DeLoreans going somewhere. Albeit it was four DeLoreans, it was so badass having all of us one behind another and watching people on the road freak out is always great!
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McNamara's Irish Restaurant
Once we got there, many people drove around and came up to take pictures including some of the kitchen staff. It's always fun to see people get so happy over these cars. Once we all ate, we stood around and talked shop a little bit more before we all went our separate ways. I followed VIN 10233 out to I-40 and just followed behind him all the way home to Cookeville simply because two DeLoreans are better than one :) All in all, it was a fantastic day with our TNDMC Brothers and we will be doing it again soon.
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[JBaker4981]

Replacing the Front Relay Ground Buss
Date: 01/25/2020
Mileage: 38,749

This is something that had been needed for a long time. I had previously ordered the Front Relay Ground Buss from Dave McKeen and had been putting off doing this however the time came after many, many hours of research.

Passenger Seat... Out.
Soft Padding for Knees in car... Check.
Crimpers... Check.
Flashlight... Check.
Utility Knife... Check.
Diagrams of Electrical System... Check.
Fat Butt in Car... Check.

I first pulled all of the Relays and set them aside followed by sliding the relays sockets off of one another and grouping them together depending on the circuit. Fan Fan/Fan Relay. Blower/Blower. High Beam/Lo Beam... You get it. I then verified the wires and configuration of each socket and circuit.
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I started to very carefully cut the 39 year old electrical tape away and gradually work my way down the harness. I unplugged each ground wire from each socket as per Dave's instructions and continued to free up slack. Unplugging, cutting, freeing slack, unplugging, cutting, freeing slack. Eventually I reached the final socket which was the low beam socket. At this point, there is a copious amount of ground wire which is cut from the wire to the low beam socket.
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Why the utter f**k is the original ground wire 7 feet long!?
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I went ahead and placed the new ground buss under the front relay area and clicking all of the new ground wires together along with reconnecting the sockets together. I then used Dave's included butt connector to connect the source ground wire (going to the low beam) to the new ground buss.
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I fired the car up and checked all of the electrical systems to ensure that I didn't break anything and sure enough, everything worked as intended.


Glove Box LED Bulb
While the seat is out, I figured I might as well lay my butt down and replace it. Easy Enough.
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[JBaker4981]

Road Test and Coolant
Date: 02/01/2020
Mileage: 38,749 - 38,901

One of our TNDMC Members, Mike, is looking to purchase his first DeLorean and was also looking to get better acquainted with the cars and learning what to look for and etc. I offered to meet up with him in Lebanon, TN since I needed to venture onto the interstate in order to get the car continuously warm enough that the fans would run most of the time. That would provide a solid test for me to say that the grounding issues have been resolved with Dave's Ground Buss and that I also did it correctly. I set off on Saturday afternoon (2/1/20) and hit I-40 to Lebanon.

The car did exceptional. No heat build up of the Fan Circuit. Car running cool. Awesome.

I arrived at the church that we had picked out (behind the church to avoid people) and pulled up to his and his fiances vehicle. No sooner did I get out of the car and shake their hands, we noticed coolant spilling from the back of the engine. Assessing the damage, it looked to be coming from a water pump hose. Great. I walked him around the car and gave him a massively thorough tour of the DeLorean, showing him where things were, what things are, and why things are. After the car had cooled over the couple of hours we were there, I verified the coolant level looked good and offered him a ride.

Driving around the roundabout of the Lebanon Square and using it to do a u-turn, I noticed a lady flipping out in a parking lot off of the roundabout as she was literally bowing in presence of the car. That's awesome and a first. I told Mike that we've gotta make this chicks day. We wheel in and Mike was able to experience his first taste of bystanders worshiping the car. I ended up finding us posted to Reddit that evening by that lady (https://www.reddit.com/r/delorean/comments/exe03w/saw_a_nice_one_out_in_the_wild_today_lebanon_tn/)
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Once Mike and I got back to his vehicle, the car started burping coolant from the expansion tank. Something was up so we parted ways. On the drive home, the car had no issues what so ever. No overheating, no getting hot. It was a very normal drive however my concerns were not void.

Uh-Oh
Date: 02/02/2020

Looking into what was going on, I noticed that my coolant level in the tank was a tad below where it normally sits and that the coolant that was leaking had evaporated. Not convinced that I didn't have coolant in the Valley, I hooked up my laptop and a borescope and shoved it into the VOD. What I saw was leaky hose connecting the Water Pump to the Y-Pipe. Shit. Shit Shit Shit. I've never gone into the Valley myself nor done any work like this, ever...
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It was a good time to learn.

[JBaker4981]

Journey into the Valley of Death: Part 1
Date: 02/08/2020
Mileage: 38,901

As previously stated in the last post, I had performed anything this involved on any engine before so I was feeling very intimidated by the whole thing. Over the course of the week, I did copious amounts of research via DMCTalk, DMCToday, DMC Knowledge Base, and various websites and blog posts. Jimmy (VIN 2706) ended up convincing me to do all of this myself and after reading through the process and finding/given a step by step guide on how to do this, I decided to give it a shot. The guide truly made it seem like it would be a lot less stressful and I had plenty of resources at my disposal.

Draining the Coolant
On Saturday, February 8th, I took the first step into the project and never looked back. I started by jacking the front of the car up and bleeding the radiator via the drain on the drivers side followed by pulling the hose off of the radiator's passenger side tank. Afterwards, the hoses were pulled from the rear of the car where it comes out of the frame in order to drain as much as possible. I did not necessarily want to drain from the engine block though I should have.
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Guide
Following the guide attached to this post, I decided to bag every piece of hardware and every item as well as label said bags with the contents and a number in order to ensure that I do not miss anything. I also wanted to make sure that everything goes back correctly so I decided to video every step and every piece that was removed so that I could reference it later. I followed the guide, step by step, down to Step 6 (Removing the Fuel Distributor). Over the course of the process, I noticed my ISM (Idle Speed Motor) harness looked a little bit melted so I consulted a few of our TNDMC folks. Jimmy sent me his ISM harness since he just did an EFI conversion and didn't need it. Awesome. Once I removed the W-Pipe, I called it quits for the day. A buddy of mine was to come up tomorrow and help me take her all the way down to the Valley the next day. At this point, I felt pretty confident though the Fuel System was still intimidating at the time.
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[powerline84]

Hell yeah man glad I could help . This is truly a right of passage job for Delorean owners. It's a huge confidence builder as well . Now you know your car even more. Bad ass !

[JBaker4981]

Journey into the Valley of Death: Part 2
Date: 02/09/2020 - 02/19/2020
Mileage: 38,901

A buddy of mine came up to assist with the removal of everything in order to get down to the Valley. As we continued further towards the VOD, we continued to bag and label hardware and pieces. I did not take any photos of this process as the entire process is the same as stated in the guide. Fortunately, the previous owner replaced every nut, bolt, and washer with stainless steel hardware and also used anti-seize on the bolts that needed it. Everything was easy to remove and we had no issue with any bolt. Once we removed the Intake Manifold, I was able to see the true extent of the coolant leak as coolant had filled the crevices and canals of the valley. We quickly plugged the 6 ports into the cylinders and continued onward.
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We decided to try to clean up most of the coolant immediately however it only proved to be pointless. I wanted to get the Y-Pipe out and it didn't occur to us that this would have been full of coolant which flooded the valley far more that previously. Oh well, that is why we are doing this. With the Y-Pipe removed, we removed the Water Pump and set everything aside. We cleaned a majority of the coolant out of the valley where we could actually survey what was going on. I believe that the hose between the WP and Y-pipe and the hose between the WP and the block on the drivers side were leaking causing all the mess. What really didn't look good was the tar/oily looking crap on the block.
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Ultimately, that tar/oily substance was the POR-15 coating that was applied to the block. Coolant and moisture got between the block and the POR15 coating which then caused the POR15 to absorb the coolant, turning parts of it into a rubbery substance. Most of the POR15 coating simply separated from the block.

Cleaning the Block
Doing all of this out of a storage unit with no electricity was rather a large PITA. I did not have the use of a shopvac so I opted for a DeWalt Cordless Wet/Dry Vacuum (https://www.dewalt.com/products/power-tools/dust-management/dust-extractors-and-vacs/1820v-max-cordless-wetdry-vacuum/dcv580) since I already have a moderate supply of DeWalt 20V batteries. This thing made life much easier. Over the course the next 10 days, I peeled and cleaned and scrubbed and brushed and washed and dried and scrubbed and brushed the block to remove the old POR15 coating. During the course of the clean up, I used needle nose pliers to pull chunks of POR15 out of the 4 channels in the block and some debris. Those channels are rough to clean out completely.
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After much inspection of the block, I can safely and confidently say that it is in great condition with no signs of pitting, rusting, or block rot.

After consulting with many people as well as a few different vendors, I decided to not reapply any POR15 and let the block breathe going forward. At this time, it was time to place my orders with various vendors for items that I am replacing while I am there and while the coolant is drained.

[JBaker4981]

Out with the old Radiator
Date: 02/23/2020
Mileage: 38,901

While everything is drained and the car is inoperable, this is the perfect time for a few upgrades. I've always wanted a new radiator from DPI so I ordered one. While that is in the process of coming down from Ohio, I dropped the old radiator including the condenser. I didn't feel the need to leave the condenser connected as most of my refrigerant as leaked out from the passenger wheel well (problem for spring-time me). I unbolted the upper mounting arms, the fans, and the condenser from the old radiator and set them all aside and made a hardware list of things that I wanted to replace on this set up. Previously, I lost a couple of bolts and nuts when mounting the shroud to the radiator last summer (without dropping the radiator). With that said, it had only been mounted with three bolts which always bothered me. This is where I get to make that right.
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Water Pump Gets Bolted Back In
After the Radiator was dropped, I got to work with the Water Pump, Y-Pipe, and Heater Hose. At this point, my main DeLorean Go order had arrived with all of my O-Rings, gaskets, crush washers, replacement hoses, and etc so there was no more reason to not get part of the show on the road. I cleaned up the Water Pump, Y-Pipe, and Heater Hose to ensure that they were in good condition and also replaced the O-Rings under the Y-Pipe.
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New DPI Radiator
Date: 02/27/2020 - 02/29/2020
Once the new Radiator arrived, I got to work bolting the condenser and DPI Fans onto the new unit. I was very surprised by the weight of the new unit even after everything was bolted back onto it. The new system was installed in the car with minimal issue aside lining everything up. The worst part of the whole process was getting the driver's side upper mounting arm lined up with the hole in the tope of the frame extension in addition to lining up the bolt, ground connection, washers, etc. Such a pain but it was done correctly.
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[JBaker4981]

Bleeders
Date: 03/07/2020
Mileage: 38,901

I ordered a self-bleeder for the Water Pump from DPI however afterwards and upon much closer inspection, it appeared that I had one installed on the car from John Harvey. It didn't occur to me since the PO hid this bleeder hose under the passenger side coolant hose connecting to the water pump… hidden in plain sight. That's OK, this is a learning experience for me. I'd like to use the DPI hoses anyway and I can give the DPI kit and Harvey hose that I replace to someone who needs it.
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I also ordered a Radiator Bleeder Valve from DPNW and installed that where it should be with the addition of a brand new silicone hose (Not Pictured)

Pressure Testing
I acquired a Pressure Tester Kit from Autozone (https://www.autozone.com/loan-a-tools/loaner-pressure-tester-adapters/powerbuilt-cooling-system-pressure-testing-kit-22-piece/449951_0_0?cmpid=PLA:US:EN:AD:NL:1000000:TLS:71700 000043798748&gclid=CjwKCAjwvOHzBRBoEiwA48i6Avz0VCF6h_slQDMhtE-EqaNEH2hPZE1OLBYmvgTcrXVFs0cdADuOtBoCQEcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) via their Loan-A-Tool Program. Side Note: The only one you can use is adapter 21 from this kit. I pressure tested to 15 PSI and heard plenty of leaks here and there so I tracked them down, tightened up clamps, and repeated until I no longer heard any hissing. Unfortunately, I still lost pressure so I filled the system up as much as I could. Repeating multiple times and finding leaks and clamps to tightened, I was able to get it to hold at 14 PSI for 2.5 hours. Good enough for me.
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Rebuilding
Date: 03/08/2020 - 03/11/2020
Following the Intake Manifold Guide in reverse, I got to work over the course of four evenings after work. I installed new, Blue Vacuum lines in the engine since I was there. O-Rings around the ports were replaced, gaskets on the intake replaced, nothing really to note. I do think it is rather strange that the entire fuel distributor and mixture unit is secured by two screws in addition to the W-Pipe. While going through the rebuild process, I took careful note of the pipe of agony and ensured the O-Ring in the mixture unit was in good shape so that it would provide a decent seal. Unfortunately, as to be expected.. I f----ed up in some fashion by dropping the 19mm Banjo Bolt down into the back of the VOD though I was able to retrieve it with a magnet.
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[JBaker4981]

VOD Project Completion
Date: 03/11/2020 - 03/15/2020
Mileage: 38,901 - 38,909

With everything was together, the car started after several attempts (expected) and came to a normal ide though it started idle hunting every now and then. I bled the system from the radiator multiple times while also filling it up and tested the cooling system by allowing it to get up to temperature. On Thursday, March 12th, I checked everything and took it down the road a couple of miles to the gas station. I verified that there were no coolant leaks though I did see a spot of coolant on the Water Pump ledge where I previously noticed coolant when this project spawned. I took it back after I refueled and verified that there was no coolant in the VOD via borescope.

On Saturday, March 14th, I wanted make sure that it was good to go so I tightened all of the clamps that I could get to (found the culprit being the drivers side hose from WP to Block) and topped off the tank to 3/4 full (too much). I let it the car get up to temp where it burped some coolant from the expansion which I was expecting. Once it was done, I took it down the road by two miles and pulled into a parking lot to check her out as a precaution. With no signs of any issues, I concluded the test.
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Quarantine Cruise
Date: 03/21/2020
Mileage: 38,909 - 38,946

One thing that I do want to say is screw this Kung Flu Bullshit. The wife and I have been holed up at home which is fine however I wanted to get some finishing touches taken care of on 628. I figured I wouldn't see anyone anyway so what is the harm? I installed my new stainless steel extended throttle spool cover, reinstalled the cover over the bulkhead connectors, and cable management the vacuum lines. For the vacuum lines, I was originally going to cut them to better length but I figured I have wired and managed enough server rooms that I can make it look better with the slack that I had.
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Once I was happy with it, I checked the coolant tank which was right where it needed to be and fired the car. Upon adjusting the vacuum lines, the car no longer idle hunts and is back to its normal happy self. I decided to go for a nice, extended drive throughout the county and also snag some pictures of 628 at the local college. Once all of this virus crap is over with, she will be thoroughly detailed and prepped for car show season.
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[JBaker4981]

Social Distancing Cruise
Date: 04/18/2020
Mileage: 39,047-39,124

Everyone knows how much this Social Distancing and Quarantine thing sucks so let's forego all of the complaining that I can do. Wanting to get out of the house and spend some time behind 628, I arranged to meet up with our other TNDMC member in my town for an impromptu cruise. Throughout the drive, many smiles, cameras, and thumbs up were had. Below are a few pictures that I took in addition to some that I found of us on social media.
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General Maintenance

Oil Change
Date: 04/21/2020
Mileage: 39,124
Oil Type: Castrol GTX 20W-50

A little overdue for an oil change but I have moved away from ordering oil filters from DMCH and other vendors in favor of the direct replacement part from Rock Auto ($3.05 each) thanks to a couple of guys within our group. With the Toby Peterson's EZ Valve on the oil pan, I also do not have to worry about a crush washer either.
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Part Number: Bosch 72150WS
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Reusable Performance Air Filter
Model: K&N 33-3072

At this time, I also opted for one of the new K&N Performance Air Filters that are reusable and washable. As expected, this fit like a glove and sealed well within the air box.
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Engine Cover Latch Bracket

A friend within Tri-State DeLorean Club has designed and 3D printed an engine cover latch bracket. The unit attaches to the center support on the louvres via some 3M Double-Sided Tape (30lb) that is pre-installed within a channel in the bracket. The unit is further secured with a supplied screw and lock nut that which are recessed into the bracket itself.
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This bracket will keep pressure off of your factory engine cover stay so it will not bend while the engine cover is open.

The cost is $10 + $5 shipping. If anyone is interested in this, let me know!

[JBaker4981]

Air Conditioning Reconditioning
Date: 04/24/20 - 05/05/20
Mileage: 39,157
Vendor: Vintage Planet
Cost: $761.06

At this time of this writing, I have become back logged with work during the COVID-19 pandemic and unfortunately, I have neglected to document the continuing saga of LoriAnn. Time to keep this sucker going!

April. Tennessee warms up and the skies open with thunderstorms, rain, humidity, and again... heat. Though April is still fairly mild, a fat kid in a stainless steel convection oven would enjoy driving with a working AC much more than using 'vent'. I am not prepared to work on HVAC systems just yet so I opted to reach out to a local shop here in Cookeville, TN called Vintage Planet. This place is a service center & dealership of antique, classic, and exotic vehicles and is well known. I schedule the service with one of the owners and dropped the car off with them on April 24th. The goal was to find the source of the leak and evaluate and then repair/replace whatever hose was leaking R134.

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Impatiently waiting on the service to be completed, I picked it up on May 5th with an amazing cold Air Conditioning System. I took it back to base happy until...

Leaky Evaporator Case
Date: 05/06/20
Mileage: 39,180

I noticed that the carpet on the passenger side was wet when I was checking out something unrelated. Sh*t. Last year, this was patched with JB Weld and roofing material. Lifting the carpet showed a copious amount of water under the carpet. Sh*t! I unbolted and removed the passenger seat and quickly pulled the carpet out as a hole and threw it in the gravel to drain. The wet carpet itself weighed in excess of 30lbs which was streaming water off of it when it pulled it out.

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Over the course of the next several days, I drove around to allow the condensed water to drip onto the bare fiberglass floorboard so that I could better locate the source of the leaks. Found. Patched. A crack on the backside of the evaporator casing. I need a new one. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the process but at the time of this writing (August), it's good (Thank God). I also reconditioned the carpet and made sure to completely dry everything. In the meantime until I was 100% confident that the leak was fixed, I kept the carpet and passenger seat out.

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[JBaker4981]

Decals
Date: 05/10/20
Mileage: 39,193

I am not one to put decals and bumper stickers on vehicles. I hate it. However, the quarterpanel glass is nearly perfect to show off some sort of flare. TNDMC has officially gone 'official' and Jimmy (Powerline84/#2706) wanted to have decals made so we worked together to make it become a reality. I modified our existing logo and simplified it to be what you see below and Jimmy sourced and ordered them into Die-Cut Vinyl Decals. These look GREAT. Huge thanks to Jimmy for the decals to the club!

Justin, another TNDMC member, sent me a couple of decals of JZD's signature a while back. This was also the perfect opportunity to stick this on the rear quarterpanel glass and truly spice it up a bit. I truly think that his signature on the car is just absolutely too cool even if it is a decal. Huge thank you to Justin for these!

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Battery Light & LEDs
Date: 05/11/20
Mileage: 39,193

Around May 8th, I pulled the car out to go for a drive and no sooner did I start to pull towards the road, I noticed the Voltage gauge reading diddly squat. Ugh. Did I lose a belt? Is my Alternator bad? I turned around and put the car up. After a very brief moment of panic and confusion, I came to my senses and remembered the stupid bulb in the binnacle. I sat in the car to turned the key to the ON position to find the Battery Indicator not illuminating. Awesome. I reached out to one of our TNDMC club members (Daniel) who was home and Facetimed with him to have him do the same and verify that this is supposed to illuminate when you turn the key ON. That's it.

A car crippled by a $2 bulb. Silly.

For anyone that may by reading and wonder WTF I am referring to then here is the jist: In order for the Alternator to charge the Battery, the circuit routes through the binnacle. There is a light bulb in the binnacle used for the Battery Indicator and is required in order to complete the circuit and allow the Alt to charge the Battery. This bulb is always to remain incandescent and is never to be replaced by an LED. Failure to keep this bulb incandescent and functioning will result in a dead battery, dead car, and pain.

Knowing that my fat butt has already attempted to get under the drivers side dashboard and failed, I reached out to Rex, another of our TNDMC club members who is local to me, and asked for an assist. On the 11th, he came by and wiggled under the dash. Together, we pulled the Binnacle and replaced the Battery Bulb with a Sylvania 161 Bulb (14V) (https://www.autozone.com/electrical-and-lighting/side-marker-light-mini-bulb/sylvania-longlife-mini-bulb-161ll/319049_0_0). While the Binnacle was out of the car, this was the perfect time to swap all of the bulbs to LEDs which was still on hand from various SuperBrightLED and DeLoreanGo orders. During this process, we did discover that one of my Green LEDs from DeLoreanGo was dead so we opted to put that in the place of the indicator for the low beams simply because of two reasons: I know when I have my headlights on and we do not do emission or DOT testing here so I don't care. Mega Huge thanks to Rex Bennett in helping me with this project. Afterwards, the car functioned just fine and I picked up Taco Bell in the DeLorean for the hell of it that evening. I am truly digging the Cool White LEDs that illuminate the Binnacle.

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Guides Used:
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[JBaker4981]

Air Conditioning Reconditioning: Part 2
Date: 05/15/20 - 05/22/20
Mileage: 39,219
Vendor: Vintage Planet

I discovered that my Freon leaked out of one of the hoses in the passenger wheel well. By May 12th, I had no more freon in the system and had to schedule another service. I discussed a discount for having issues immediately after it was just serviced and the culprit was indeed found - A broken hose. Originally it was a seal and a fitting that was replaced and leaking however I am unsure how this was missed but alas, they took care of the issue and vacuumed and refilled the system. Fantastic.

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Cooling Fan Circuit Issues: Part 1
Date: 05/23/20 - 06/12/20
Mileage: 39,227 - 39,254

While driving the car around and testing for additional condensation leaks in the passenger side (prior to putting the carpet back in), an issue started to reveal itself. While driving, Dave McKeen's Fan Fail Unit started to throw the 3 Blink Code which means that the unit is getting hotter than 85C. That's hot as hell and with the DPI Fans, I didn't think that I'd ever see that code again. Not sure where to start, I worked with Rafael Lopez-Cruz, Dave McKeen, and various members of TNDMC over text and video calls to try to understand what was happening. I purchased an infrared thermometer as well as a Clamp-Style Multimeter that could measure DC Amperage. Now keep in mind that electrical systems is a weakness of mine which I did not and still somewhat do not understand. I used the infrared thermometer to get a temperature reading of the relay as soon as it throws the High Temp alarm code which was no where near 85C (185F) - the relay was blinking at 127F (52C)

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Over various video calls, Rafael taught me how to use a multimeter to measure continuity, voltage, amperage, etc and was an amazingly massive help.

Since this saga is fairly lengthy, I am going to try to summarize as best as I can. I started by checking the front ground bolt and found it was a little bit dirty from general road grime which cleaned up fairly nicely since this was using stainless hardware like everything else throughout the car (Thank You Tom). I verified that all of the pins in the sockets were fully seated and making a connection to the Fan Fail Unit and Fan Relay. Voltage and Amperage at the fans were also measured to ensure that neither one of the fans were pulling too much current and potentially dying and as expected, the DPI fans are fine.

Driver Fan: 8.74a @ 12.90V
Passenger Fan: 8.68a @ 12.87V

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[JBaker4981]

TNDMC Meet: June 2020
Date: 06/13/20
Mileage: 39,254 - 39,435

On Saturday, June 13th 2020, we had another TNDMC Meet at the Stardust Drive-In in Watertown, TN. Movies of the evening: ET & Back to the Future.

Against my better judgement, I decided to put the carpet and seat back in the passenger side and take the car to the Drive-In which was an hour away. I figured what I would do is simply just drive with the electrical bay panel off so that air would get to the relays in the same manner I did last fall when going to Memphis. Over the course of the drive, I noticed that my engine temp was warm but not alarming and stayed around 195F during interstate speeds in the dead heat of Summer. This was somewhat concerning since I have the DPI radiator and fans and had been used to seeing the temperature much lower at 75mph. I arrived to the Drive-In and was directed by one of the workers to go in the back entrance and get parked where Barry had taped off our spots. During this conversation with the Drive-In employee, I took extreme notice to the sound of my fans turning off and on repeatedly while I had the AC on. Uh-Oh.

We got parked and situated and I was still concerned about the fans but alas, we made it. I knew by the time that we were to leave that night, it'd be in the mid 60s and the car would be fine even if I lost my fans due to the cool night air rushing through the radiator.

Total, we had 7 DeLorean Owners and club members in attendance: Myself, Barry (Drive-In Owner), Daniel, Nathan, Mike, Rex, and David. Barry, Daniel, David, and I brought our DeLoreans so there were a total for four in attendance though David arrived later in the evening. All in all, it was a very fun and enjoyable evening even though I was the last asshole to order food when they were closing the concession building (sorry Barry but damn good Chicken Sammich).

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As expected, the car had no issues heading home over the hour drive back to Cookeville at 1am.

[JBaker4981]

Cooling System Electrical Issues: Part 2
Date: 06/14/20 - 07/05/20
Mileage: 39,435

After I discovered that my fans were intermittently cycling off and on when they should be running full time, I knew that there was a much larger issue here than Dave McKeen's Fan Fail Unit throwing the 3 Blink Code (High Temp Warning). Something was going on. This is a very lengthy chapter and I am going to heavily summarize what was going on.

Issue: Fans intermittently turning off and back on when they should be running.

Troubleshooting Steps Taken in order:

Replaced AC Diodes with new from DeLoreanGo
Jumpered the Otterstat to remove the possibility of an issue with the AC Circuit or Air in the Cooling System
Moved Front Relay Ground Buss ground wire to ground post behind parcel shelf wall (Hoped the OG Ground Wire was messed up)
Installed larger gauge connector between FFU and Fan Relay to bypass the Circuit Breaker
Tested with New Revisions of Dave McKeen's Fan Fail Unit and Fan Relay
Measured voltage with multimeter on each pin during a fan event and followed it back to Fan Relay Pin 87 (incoming power)
Performed above Test with Stock Fan Relay and a Fused Fan Link from DeLoreanGo


Discoveries:

Original Fan Fail Unit from Dave McKeen was sensitive to voltage drops as well as had an issue with the High Temp Code being thrown too early
Mechanical Relay and Fused Link not as sensitive to voltage drops and completed circuit for longer. Fans Cycling Reduced but not resolved.
New Revision of McKeen Relays are more accurate with voltage and temp changes


Root Cause: On the Yellow Bulkhead Connector, Pin 2 and 4 specifically connect the otterstat to the rest of the car. These pins were slightly corroded with the pins no longer looking shiny and an ever so slight white dust had formed on the pins. I cleaned this off with QD Electrode Cleaner and a brush as well as used a tooth pick to scrape away anything I could on the female pin on the connector. After thoroughly cleaning this off, the fans no longer intermittently cycle and stay on as intended. I am now back to using the new Solid State Relays and the car is an absolute pleasure to drive.

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A massively huge thank you goes out to Rafael Lopez Cruz, Dave McKeen, Jimmy Houston, and TNDMC for all of the help, advice, and talking me through this lengthy issue.

[JBaker4981]

Preparation for Heritage Day 2020
Date: 07/06/20 - 07/10/20
Mileage: 39,435 - 39,467

There has been a bucket list item that I have wanted to do with my DeLorean for many many years. That bucket list item is to have my very first car show be Heritage Day in Granville, TN and potentially win something at it. The Heritage Day car show is a very large car show hosted by AACA and generally brings hundreds of cars and thousands of people from all around the state and surrounding states. This event had been postponed until July 11th due to COVID-19 so the week prior to that and the day after I resolved my fan issues, I got to work detailing the car for my first car show. I did run some errands in the car as a decent test for the fan circuit and also gave her a fairly through bath which is well needed.

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Over the course of the week, I put around 14 hours into thoroughly detailing the interior, exterior, engine bay, etc. AutoGlym Trim and Bumper Gel is officially my new best friend.

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Heritage Day 2020 in Granville, TN
Date: 07/11/20
Mileage: 39,467 - 39,517

The day arrived. I was both excited and nervous simply because I had never entered any type of car show before and I had no idea what I was doing. Barry Floyd recommended a specific class for me to enter into so that's what my plan was. That was my only plan that I had other than to wing the entire day. Registration was to start at 9am along with drive-thru judging so I figured I'd arrive about an hour early, wipe down the car, and get in line at 9am. Granville is approximately 35 minutes away from me so I pulled the car out at 7:30 and headed out. Upon arrival, I noticed that there were already a couple of cars that were pulling into registration and around 60-70 cars already out and parked for the day. Alright, let's do this.

I pulled in, registered with the 'Designated Sports Cars up to 93' class, paid my entry fee, and drove around to the judging area which took about 15 minutes total. Granville is a very small town here in Tennessee and this is a fairly large car show that takes place in a large field behind some peoples houses (they are somehow part of the car show) which the car show also extends to these houses side yards and front yards. To paint the picture, classic cars in every nook and cranny. After judging finished, they pointed me down the line to a gentleman who was directing traffic out of the judging lanes so that they can point people to where to park. They told me to drive around to the front of the house and there will be a guy to meet me up there because AACA wanted my car to put up front at the road where all of the foot traffic enters the car show. Awesome!!

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I got parked and set up my chair, umbrella, cooler, and my little base off to the side of the car and then did a once over wipe down of the car. Over the course of the day, hundreds of people flocked to the car while I kept my distance due to COVID-19 concerns.

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Disclaimer: Social Distancing practices were followed and masks worn when associating with people. This is why I set up my spot off to the side away from the car and people.

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At the time of judging, they offered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies for each class which there were 60-something different classes this year. Hopeful but not expecting to, I ended up winning Second Place in my class marking this as my first trophy as well as this bucket list item complete. What a Day!

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[JBaker4981]

Update: While this thread has been quiet for the last several months, life with #628 has continued to be fun and eventful (in a good way). Unfortunately, the back half of 2020 has not been very kind to me due to some physical issues manifesting within my back and spine. In mid-July, I blew out my back and focused more on recovering and getting back up to speed. In late September, I herniated a disc between my L4 & L5 which eventually led to full on Neurosurgery on December 1st. As I continue to recover, I figured that this would be as good of a time as any to get this thread caught up on the documentation of #628.

Stainless Steel Vent Plugs
Date: 08/06/20
Mileage: 39,583

Through Facebook, an owner in Australia posted a couple of pairs of Stainless Steel Vent Plugs for the vents leading to the doors. I ordered these in mid-late July and upon receiving them, I was very surprised at how incredibly heavy each one was. The reason why I spent the extra money on these and not the $30 plugs from DMC (https://store.delorean.com/catalog/product/view/id/2953), was because these hadn't been produced since the original run from a few years ago and are very, very rare. Also it gives a bit of stainless bling to an otherwise unnoticeable spot in the car.

There is nothing to installing these. Simply place into the vent and click it into place. The back-pressure created by blocking off the door vents feed through the center console AC vents and create an impressive amount of air flow into the cabin which is MUCH more efficient!

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Bulkhead Connector Cleanup
Date: 08/30/20 - 8/31/20
Mileage: 39,622

With my back feeling much better, I wanted to prepare for an upcoming trip to the other end of the state. In order to do that, I wanted to ensure that my Alternator was properly charging and that my electrical system was as ready as it could be. This was brought up by a voltage drop in Mid-July as I was sitting at idle and losing voltage with the Volt gauge and another gauge that I had reading 10.6V. I took my GM Alternator off and took it to Autozone where they confirmed that it was in good working condition and though I have a spare alternator, I wanted to fix this voltage issue prior to this upcoming trip.

After verifying my grounds, I pulled off my bulkhead connectors and found (some) pins were corroded in all of the connectors. The corrosion varied between a very light dusting to hard, thick green/white build up on some pins. I made two cleaning solutions as noted below and got to work.

Cleaning Solution: Vinegar & Salt within a Mason Jar. This solution will eat away at corrosion very quickly.
Rinse Solution: Distilled Water & Baking Soda. This is used as a rinse and neutralizes oxidation from the cleaning solution.

Each Bulkhead connector was soaked in my cleaning solution for approximately 20 minutes when it is then removed and shaken off into a towel. Each Bulkhead connector is then put into the mason jar containing the rinse solution where I shook the connector in the rinse solution for about 20-30 seconds. The connector is then dried in a fresh towel and sprayed with Quick Dry Electronic Cleaner.

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As you can see in the below picture, the treatment provides substantial cleaning to the highly corroded pins.

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Once all of the Bulkhead Connectors had been cleaned, I focused on the the pins on the bulkhead itself. Using a wire brush and QD Electronic Cleaner, I cleaned all of the pins as good as possible. When I was ready to plug everything in, I lightly coated each male pin with Di-Electric Grease and inserted the connectors.

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Voltage drop eliminated. Happy car = Happy owner.

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Ballast Connector Cleanup
Date: 08/31/20
Mileage: 39,622

While I was there... Same song and dance. Before and After below!

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[Michael]

I like those plugs. My flow from the D/S door vent is acceptable, but on the P/S, it's non existent. I pulled the piping and still could not figure out why zero air is going to the passenger side. I will dive in a bit deeper once this cold weather breaks but I may go the plug route in the future.

PS, be sure to check the blower/evap box where the evaporator lines enter. That rubber piece and the sealant might be loose or missing and can cause a ton of airflow to escape. If it is, it will freeze your poor passenger to death in the winter.

[JBaker4981]

I like those plugs. My flow from the D/S door vent is acceptable, but on the P/S, it's non existent. I pulled the piping and still could not figure out why zero air is going to the passenger side. I will dive in a bit deeper once this cold weather breaks but I may go the plug route in the future.

PS, be sure to check the blower/evap box where the evaporator lines enter. That rubber piece and the sealant might be loose or missing and can cause a ton of airflow to escape. If it is, it will freeze your poor passenger to death in the winter.

I hadn't heard that regarding the sealant on the evap box. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind!

Are you losing air into your door itself or do you just not have any air coming through that duct behind the passenger knee pad?

[Michael]

I hadn't heard that regarding the sealant on the evap box. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind!

Are you losing air into your door itself or do you just not have any air coming through that duct behind the passenger knee pad?

There isn't any coming from that side of the box at all. I thought it was a leaky duct or blocked but even at the opening there is none. I'm going to see if there is a flap or vacuum element stuck before I go any further. It's a small problem but I want to fix it.

[JBaker4981]

There isn't any coming from that side of the box at all. I thought it was a leaky duct or blocked but even at the opening there is none. I'm going to see if there is a flap or vacuum element stuck before I go any further. It's a small problem but I want to fix it.

Oh.. shit! That does sound like a flap or possibly a vacuum line has come unplugged from somewhere

[JBaker4981]

DMCToday Tech Session
Date: 09/04/20 - 09/06/20
Mileage: 39,641 - 40,158

The 'Thug Board' hosted a Tech Session for the weekend of September 5th, 2020 and extended the invite to all DeLorean Owners. The tech session was hosted my Michael and his wife in the Tri-Cities area of Tennessee, about 3.5 hours away from us. Preparation over the last couple of months (July - August) led to this trip. I hadn't prepared things to take care of on the car however I did have a few things that I wanted to do.

Locate tiny Transmission Fluid Leak (On Lift)
Assess CV Boots (on Lift)
Inspection of Frame and Suspension from the Deer Incident (on Lift)
Install Replacement 12v Outlet


Day 1: Drive and Cruise-In
The overall journey out to this corner of Tennessee was not bad at all. A couple of developments (noted in bottom of this post) were noticed and later identified. Upon getting into the area, the Tech Session text chain started to blow up and come to find out two other DeLorean Owners were staying at the same hotel that I had booked at. Seeing other DeLoreans always excites me.

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Once settled in, everyone made plans to meet for dinner at a place called Freddy's (Burgers & Frozen Custard) which also has a classic car cruise-in every Friday. Perfect. What DeLorean owner doesn't like crashing car shows and cruise-ins? Meeting everyone throughout the evening was a blast. With the exception of two others, everyone had arrived that evening and we all ended up hanging out at Michael's by his pool that evening.

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Day 2: Tech Session
Tech Session Day! Upon eating a fantastic breakfast as prepared by Michael and Debbie, things became underway rather quickly. #628 was first up on the lift which we quickly discovered that every single CV Boot was torn and 3 out of 4 had grease. With the help of Michael who took the lead, we cleaned up the axles and the torn boots and repacked them with grease. In order to ensure it would make the nearly 4 hour drive home on Sunday, a little bit of Tennessee ingenuity was applied. Case in Point: You CAN repair CV Boots on a DeLorean with Duct Tape. The plan is to pull the drive shafts off and replace the CV Boots in the winter. In all honesty, at the time of this writing the duct tape is still on 3 of the 4 boots and holding up rather fine.

Further inspection of the car revealed the source of my small transmission fluid leak at the drain plug. The rest of the car looked great IMO. We pulled the car off the lift and let others have their turn. Throughout the day, I f***ed around, piddled, mingled, and worked on my other little to do project for the day. A new 12v outlet!

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My old 12v outlet decided that it wanted to start shooting sparks whenever I moved anything that was plugged into it, so it absolutely had to go. Instead of a normal, 12v replacement outlet, I opted for a more modernized, but minimal approach. I chose a Dual USB 3.0 12v Socket that had a voltmeter built in so that I can accurately keep track of the voltage that the Alternator is putting out.

Part: YONHAN Quick Charge 3.0 Dual USB Charger Socket (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FXH5ZZK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Price: $14.99

Once I pulled the old socket out, I found the diameter of the hole where the 12v receptacle fits into to be too small. Using a file, I carefully filed away at the metal plate under the vinyl of the center console pad and slowly enlarged it. Once I was able to fit it down into the spot, I cut the wire for the old 12v socket illumination bulb and taped it up, pushing it off to the side. This left the only other to wires, positive and negative. This socket was truly plug and play. With the help of Josh (Nightflyer Josh),he was able to plug it up from underneath the panel and we got it secured. This little guy is one of my favorite mods as it does not take away from the interior and is also highly functional.

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After a fantastic dinner, we had a photo-op session down the road before Dondeanna and Ryan left as well as a little bit of trigger time and pool time. Overall a fun fun fun day!
A MASSIVE Thank You goes out to Michael and Debbie Maupin for hosting a fantastic get together!

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Day 3: Breakfast and Homeward Bound
The 8 of us met for breakfast at Cracker Barrel the next morning. Cracker Barrel is this fat kid's go to establishment... with 8 DeLoreans it was a true show stopper for all of the guests waiting outside.

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Once breakfast was done, the group headed out for the Sunday drive down Hwy 421 (called "The Snake"). While they headed out, I said my good byes and steered her out west towards home. The main reason of going home so soon was that I wanted to make sure that I get home without issue so taking the car out on a high thrill romp through the mountains albeit was an exciting thought, I don't want to be left with a hell of a tow bill if something happened. This ultimately, proved to be a very good call.

On the way home, the ole' girl hit the 40,000 mile milestone! I also ended up getting spotted on I-40 and posted to Instagram (I did not know these people, just found the picture one day)

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About 34 miles from home, I decided to stop off at a buddy's place to catch up since we hadn't seen each other in about a year. Upon getting onto his road, I noticed that there was a lack of power at around 40mph and I was merely just revving the motor while coasting. Uh oh. I got to his gate, opened it, pulled the car through, closed the gate, and drove up to his house without further issue. While alarmed, I let the car cool for about an hour and a half while we caught up and drank some beers. Afterwards, I was able to get home with no issue until the last half mile of the drive. It happened again while cruising around 40-45mph... no acceleration and the car was revving. At first I was thinking the A/T Computer. Alas, I got the car home.

Developments

Car Running Very Warm on Interstate with AC on: Upon driving through Knoxville, TN, I noticed that the car was a bit under 220 and too hot for my comfort level. I discovered that the rise in engine temperature was directly caused by running the AC. Ryan Foster suggested that the AC might be overcharged and is causing the engine to work harder in turning the pulley. Makes sense. Another thing to add to the list
Automatic Transmission Issues: Discussing with various people including Rafael, it has been discovered that I will need to have this transmission rebuilt as there is a loss in pressure with the C2 Clutch Drum. This directly causes the loss of 3rd Gear (3rd slipping). Another thing to add to the list however prioritized.

[JBaker4981]

New Illuminated Window Switches
Date: 10/19/20
Mileage: 40,176

For our Anniversary, my wife picked up a set of Illuminated Window Switches from DMCH. I contacted Dave McKeen and had him install his Blue LED board into the switches. On October 19th when it was time to install them, I noticed a sheer amount of corrosion on all of the pins of the connectors. Using my solutions that I still had sealed up, I unraveled the window switches from the harness and gave them a thorough cleaning.

Cleaning Solution: Vinegar & Salt within a Mason Jar. This solution will eat away at corrosion very quickly.
Rinse Solution: Distilled Water & Baking Soda in a Mason Jar. This is used as a rinse and neutralizes oxidation from the cleaning solution.

While I was there, I also disabled the Rear Window Defroster switch and tucked away this connector. The Defroster switch and the two dummys will be replaced with an on/off switch from DeLoreanGo in the future. During this, I also rerouted the window switches to the outside of the set which makes most sense in my opinion and somewhat looks a bit better.

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[JBaker4981]

Year End 2020: To Do List
Date: 12/28/2020

As 2020 wraps up, my laundry list of things to take care of on the car keep piling up. Unfortunately, any progress of anything since the end of September has halted with the exception of the Window Switches due to issues with my back. As previously mentioned in post #48, I developed issues with a herniated disc between my L4 & L5 which wrecked havoc on my mobility and sanity as it progressively got worse throughout October and November. I had spinal surgery on December 1st and while I have been recovering very well, there are many items that have been lingering and will soon be addressed starting in January (I hope)

Priority Items

Drop A/T and send to be rebuilt
Pull Drive Axles during A/T Removal - Inspect, Repack, Install New Boots


To Do List (Parts On Hand)

Install DPI Catback SPEC Exhaust
Install DMCH Louvre Reinforcement Bracket and Delete Spring Loaded Engine Cover Stay
Install DGo Strut Brace
Install DGo Front LCA Braces
Install IDORB Black Out Headlight Covers
Install Hervey Black Side Stripe
Rewire Touchscreen Rearview Mirror & Document
Install Dave McKeen's Side Marker/Blinker Harness
Pull old Insulation out of Parcel Area and replace Padding/Dynamat


To Do List (Future)

Install A/T Cooler Heat Exchanger
Recover Seats (Two-Tone)
Purge AC and Recharge to Spec
Pull Headliner over Parcel Shelf and Reattch (one side drooping)
Install new upper guide for Passenger Window
Replace OEM Door Lock Module
Replace Inner/Outer Cargo Net Brackets and pop rivets
Find out why Windshield Wiper Spray Motor is no longer working
Find out where Windshield Wiper Fluid Reservoir is leaking from and Patch It

[orangecrrrush]

Jesse,

Love the detailed view of your ownership. I used to live on Long Island and know Tom N. He is a good guy. I love your early vin auto D.

Adam

[JBaker4981]

Jesse,

Love the detailed view of your ownership. I used to live on Long Island and know Tom N. He is a good guy. I love your early vin auto D.

Adam

Totally just now seeing this. Thanks man! Tom was great to work with and him and Donna are the best

[JBaker4981]

We bought our 1st House!
Date: 02/11/21

As of February 11th, 2021, the wife and I have closed on our first house!

We are super incredibly excited about this. The first order of business was to put the DeLorean in her new bedroom.

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One of our TNDMC members also wanted a video of it being driven in for the first time:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TV96mBJKRFABMFDj8

[Timeless]

Congrats! Clean garage - get the "DMC" grey floor like me! :)
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[JBaker4981]

Congrats! Clean garage - get the "DMC" grey floor like me! :)
65618

Thank you! We are beyond excited. Now if the weather would cooperate for us to take stuff over there that would be great.

I remember you posting that picture either on here or one of the FB Groups... That is a SEXY garage and I dig your work area. I will get there eventually

[Timeless]

Thanks man! Your house (kitchen) looks gorgeous.

[JBaker4981]

Front Shock Brace Installation
Date: 03/15/21
Mileage: 40,238

As time progressed and the wife and I started to get settled into our new house, I started to gravitate towards the car now that it is within an arms reach. One of the smaller but more exciting projects that I had been wanting to tackle since Christmas was the installation of the Front Shock Brace from DeLoreanGo.

Product: Front Shock Brace (https://www.deloreango.com/us/front-shock-tower-brace.html)

Installation was very straight forward

Remove Cargo Carpet and Identify the 2 Body Bolts
Remove Body Bolts with 17mm Socket
Install Spacer, Front Strut Brace, New Body Bolts
Torque to Spec and Adjust Tension on Strut Brace


I wanted the carpet to lay beneath the strut so I measured multiple time and drilled two holes through the carpet and board so that the body bolts would go through them. All in all, I think this is a necessary upgrade for the DeLorean Sports Car as the added rigidity that it provides further stabilizes the car around corners and drastically reduces body roll. The reduction in body roll is very noticeable in my opinion.

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Black Out Taillight Cover
Date: 03/28/21
Mileage: 40,274

I'm more than aware of what some folks think and I agree. Why tint your taillights so that they work less? Quite frankly, if it weren't for the ridiculously bright output of the SBL LEDs that I have installed, I would truly not consider this. With that asides, I have also love the blacked out look of certain European and Muscle cars and the look had grown on me over the years. Upon going through old back issues of DeLorean World, I took note to an old DeLorean Vendor from the late 80s through early 2000s, DeLorean Specialties. The ads throughout the various DeLorean World issues have a wealth of stuff that are simply unavailable today. Unfortunately, any black out covers are few and far between these days as they are very, very rare.

Enter Facebook. In December, nearly immediately after my spine surgery, I spied a Fred Lockett selling a large quantity of DeLorean accessories in which he used to own DeLorean Specialties way back when. I thought that now is my only chance. Luckily, he had 5 blacked out tail light covers and unfortunately no headlight covers. I bought 2 of the 5 as a buddy within our TNDMC club wanted one and paypal'ed me so that we'd save on shipping. They arrived in one piece and in great quality however it wasn't until March that I was in a position to spend time with the car. Seeing how it was made and fit on, it was clear that you were meant to use some velcro to secure it however for me, I'd much rather not run the risk of it falling off. I acquired some black, 16lb Command Strips and put a piece on each end on the furthest lens on each side (the ones that do not illuminate) and attached it at the appropriate spot on the cover. I took my backup camera off of the fascia and moved it slightly forward (~1/4") in order to seat the cover behind it leaving enough clearance where it would be a firm fit. Once the command strips click into place and the top of the cover wedged firmly, there is no play in the cover.

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I think it looks absolutely bad ass.

[JBaker4981]

DMCH Louvre Brace
Date: 04/04/21 - 04/07/21
Mileage: 40,281

The spring loaded engine cover stay, albeit not very good for the engine cover itself, has been adequate however the bracket for the assembly itself has been starting to crack and buckle under the spring tension. One of my other Christmas gifts that I have been wanting to install was the DMCH Louvre Brace which has an integrated catch for the engine cover itself. In order to get ready to install this, I had to first remove my third brake light that the previous owner installed (these had not worked in 8+ months and I was going to figure out why during this as well). I was able to cleanly separate the third brake light from the underside of the louvre as the two halves of the third brake light rest against the center spine of the louvre. With that out of the way, I unbolted and removed the existing brace (unknown origin and vendor) which itself was two pieces of thin metal on both sides of the spine.

With this out of the way, we can begin our work with the installation.

Position the brace and secure using clamps (Huge thank you to Barry Floyd for this idea)
Using an 3/16" Drill Bit, drill through the holes of the brace through the fiberglass louvre. (Extreme Caution Needed)
Screw in the bolts that came with the brace
Secure bolts with included nuts

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Once this was installed, I was able to remove the bolts of the engine cover stay assembly as well as its bracket on the engine cover itself giving a cleaner look to the back of the engine bay.

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Third Brake Light Repair
Date: 04/04/21 - 04/08/21
Mileage: 40,281

With the added tint to the tail lights, I did want the third brake light to work for safety reasons. Once I removed the third brake light, I inspected the connector to find the negative wire had come out of its pin in its Molex connector. Goody. The third brake light itself was cut in half by the PO and capped off so that it would fit under the louvre with the center spine of the louvre running between them. The positive and negative of each half were twisted together and loosely terminated so I knew I needed to improve this.

I soldered the negatives of each half together followed by the positives and soldered additional wire to each. I cut the Molex connector out coming from under the T-Panel and crimped a new connector onto it. I then crimped a new connector onto the third brake light positive/negative once I measured and confirmed the length needed. Once I mounted the brake light back to the underside of the louvre, I further secured it using electrical tubing. Success and I think this looks rather professional in my opinion!

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[Michael]

Mods look great Jesse! Have you had a chance to drive with the shock tower brace? I thought it was gimmicky at first but it makes a HUGE difference! The car feels so much more planted in the curves.

That rear light cover looks awesome too.

[JBaker4981]

Mods look great Jesse! Have you had a chance to drive with the shock tower brace? I thought it was gimmicky at first but it makes a HUGE difference! The car feels so much more planted in the curves.

That rear light cover looks awesome too.

I've put about 50 miles on the car since I added the brace and I feel a very noticeable difference. As you said, it feels more planted to the ground and there is minimal body roll when going around a curve at normal speed. I'm sure there is some amount of body roll if I was briskly cutting through curves but this one upgrade made a major difference.

[Helirich]

Wow, that was a long read. It was a good one too. I will probably read it again. Thankyou for documenting all that. You sound like a very solid young man. I would like to meet you some day. I have a friend that moved up NE of Nashville. I will almost certainly be going up there in the next year. I may PM you when it gets "for sure". Maybe I could trade you a helicopter ride for picking your brain on some things.

Keep up the good work and documentation. It might seem like nobody is watching, but I assure you they are. I won't miss another post.

[JBaker4981]

Wow, that was a long read. It was a good one too. I will probably read it again. Thankyou for documenting all that. You sound like a very solid young man. I would like to meet you some day. I have a friend that moved up NE of Nashville. I will almost certainly be going up there in the next year. I may PM you when it gets "for sure". Maybe I could trade you a helicopter ride for picking your brain on some things.

Keep up the good work and documentation. It might seem like nobody is watching, but I assure you they are. I won't miss another post.

Thanks for the kind words man! That would be pretty awesome! We could introduce you to some members of the TN DeLorean Club with enough know ahead

[Helirich]

Im courious about your blue led door lights. Are they blue lens or clear with blue LEDs? Do you have a source?

[JBaker4981]

Im courious about your blue led door lights. Are they blue lens or clear with blue LEDs? Do you have a source?

My lenses are Blue and have a SBL Blue LED behind them.

They can be ordered from Moldy Productions (http://www.moldyproductions.com/www.moldyproductions.com/Store.html) in either Blue, Green, Purple, or Clear.

[joshg]

Just finished reading this entire set of posts and really love your descriptions, learnings, frustrations, and celebrations of successful projects!
Found it because I'm talking with Tom about his next car up for sale...

Keep up the good work, I've learned much from you already!

--josh

[JBaker4981]

Just finished reading this entire set of posts and really love your descriptions, learnings, frustrations, and celebrations of successful projects!
Found it because I'm talking with Tom about his next car up for sale...

Keep up the good work, I've learned much from you already!

--josh

Thanks for the kind words Josh! Tom is a great guy, you'll be happy to have done business with him!

[JBaker4981]

Summer Overhaul: Part 1

Summary
In preparation for the wedding of my wife's best friend on Halloween of this year, the transmission needs to be overhauled in order to ensure that it can get to Nashville and back without any failures. This has been briefly mentioned in previous posts as the Transmission would lose 3rd gear once the A/T was up to operating temperature and driving above 50-60 mph which is not ideal in any situation. While I have been driving it around town, primarily in stop and go traffic, the car had been doing excellent however something had stuck in my head for months.

What had stuck in my head was this.... While I was recovering from spine surgery in December and January, one of my DeLorean buddies (who also lives in town), got the car out of the storage unit to give her some exercise and reported back to me that 3rd gear did not slip and also got it up around 65mph. Interesting. Towards the end of May, when out and about in the DeLorean, I hopped on a divided highway just to see if it would lose 3rd like it had. No. The car was as happy as can be up to 80 mph. VERY interesting. I tested it again on another day with no slippage while cruising at a steady 70 mph. Consulting with a few friends, we theorize that there might have been some debris blocking a channel within the Transmission and while the car sat for a couple of months, the debris loosened up and fell out. I decided to change the transmission fluid and the filter as it hadn't been done since it was restored and see how the car performs afterwards. I know, I know... this should be a regular thing which I now know. In further readings such as a few threads and videos, Michael Maupin mentioned that you should change the A/T fluid itself at every other oil change. Sounds like a decent schedule to me.

Keep in mind that with a majority of this overhaul project, I had never done before so I am learning as I go. Thank God for my friends and the Community for advice.

While the car is going to be on jack stands for a lengthy period of time, I figured I would take care of several while I was under the car. Que the list!

Change Transmission Fluid
Change Transmission Fluid Filter
Install Grady A/T Heat Exchanger
Send A/T Governor Computer to DMCMW for Rebuild/Update
Rebuild CV Joints
Install new CV Boots
Install DPI Cat-Back Exhaust
Oil Change!


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Let's Do This
Date: 06/19/2021
Mileage: 40,396

My wife gave up her spot in the garage for me to use the entire garage has an operating room so I maneuvered the car diagonally in the garage to give plenty of room to roll around and work on all sides of the car. I had purchased a creeper as to help move around without causing strain on the spine. Anyway, I put the car on jack stands enough for my fat @$$ to roll underneath on said creeper to work. First thing was first and that was to drain the A/T fluid which came out non-translucent... a first indication of what would be found.

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After letting it drip empty for a bit, I unscrewed all 13 transmission pan bolts and removed the pan to find quite a bit of metal particles on both magnets on the pan and on the filter. Wonderful. I removed the 3 bolts from the A/T Filter, removed it, cleaned it off, and analyzed it. Rafael wanted me to cut it open so I did and what I found surprised me.... an @$$ load of debris.

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I cleaned all of the bolts and washers with degreaser and threw them in an ultra sonic cleaner and then bagged and tagged them. I followed up on the Transmission Pan and cleaned it up to the point where I feel like I could eat off of it... but I won't.

Removing the Drive Axles
Date: 06/19/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Back under the car, I noticed that the bolts on the axles had been swapped to the 8mm Allen bolts. Great! I don't have a socket for this so off to Autozone I went. Once I had the proper tool in hand, I was able to remove all 24 bolts from the axles without issue. The passenger side pulled down into my hand without trouble however the drivers side axle required a little more force via a rubber mallet. It dropped free with a couple of whacks. 3 out of 4 boots are torn and these are set aside for another time.

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[Helirich]

I just found tears in two of my boots. They weren't there a month ago. I guess they were brittle.

The tranny issue is very disappointing. Finding junk in the oil is bad enough, but finding junk that sticks to a magnet is really bad. I would assume your third gear clutch is metal to metal. Are you going to rebuild it yourself?

[Ron]

From the pics and assuming the fluid was't changed recently, I wouldn't be surprised if a filter wouldn't put it back on the road for quite a while. Rather than a channel being clogged , it looks like the filter was. Common for one to pack up as it gets warm and then release as it cools (or even just shut it off for a bit). And the fluid would be dark brown with clutch material and being over heated if the clutches were metal to metal.
...just suggesting to give it a chance to prove itself first, since worst case you'll only lose fluid and a filter.

[Michael]

From the pics and assuming the fluid was't changed recently, I wouldn't be surprised if a filter wouldn't put it back on the road for quite a while. Rather than a channel being clogged , it looks like the filter was. Common for one to pack up as it gets warm and then release as it cools (or even just shut it off for a bit). And the fluid would be dark brown with clutch material and being over heated if the clutches were metal to metal.
...just suggesting to give it a chance to prove itself first, since worst case you'll only lose fluid and a filter.

Debris is what I would consider more than normal, but no chunks either. I think Ron's logic is sound. Replace fluid and filter and give it another look after say 1,500 miles or so.

[JBaker4981]

I just found tears in two of my boots. They weren't there a month ago. I guess they were brittle.

The tranny issue is very disappointing. Finding junk in the oil is bad enough, but finding junk that sticks to a magnet is really bad. I would assume your third gear clutch is metal to metal. Are you going to rebuild it yourself?

Since they tore recently, I would pull them and replace them all or else it is going to sling grease on everything under your car. Ask me how I know. As for the tranny, we'll see how she drives after this maintenance and then re-evaluate.


From the pics and assuming the fluid was't changed recently, I wouldn't be surprised if a filter wouldn't put it back on the road for quite a while. Rather than a channel being clogged , it looks like the filter was. Common for one to pack up as it gets warm and then release as it cools (or even just shut it off for a bit). And the fluid would be dark brown with clutch material and being over heated if the clutches were metal to metal.
...just suggesting to give it a chance to prove itself first, since worst case you'll only lose fluid and a filter.

Debris is what I would consider more than normal, but no chunks either. I think Ron's logic is sound. Replace fluid and filter and give it another look after say 1,500 miles or so.

I agree with both of you from my readings throughout the last few weeks. Planning on sending it after the fluid and filter change and seeing how it performs.

[JBaker4981]

Summer Overhaul: Part 2

'Ello Gov'na!
Date: 06/26/2021
Mileage: 40,396

How To Guide: A/T Governor Removal (https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/b55bc70e-923b-4ddc-9f6f-90e4df0ddf7f/downloads/Automatic%20Transmission%20-%20Governor%20Removal.pdf?ver=1621223396426)

After making arrangements with Mike at DMC Midwest for a rebuild/upgrade of the A/T Computer, I decided to go ahead and pull the unit the next chance I got. The goal was to get it shipped on Monday 6/28. Using the guide in the link above, I got to work trying to push the Connector Box down through any spot within the engine bay which was by far the hardest part of the job. I imagine that I'll be more than frustrated and cussing when I go to put it back in. Snipping the Zip Ties holding the Connector Box wires and an AC line to the frame helped assist maneuvering the unit sideways and down past the diagnostic port. Once the Connector Box was dropped free, I positioned it over the transmission to the passenger side and go to work on the other parts.

All in all, the Governor Computer, Switch, and Solenoid all dropped free easily. Once the unit was out of the car and on my work area, I cleaned the harness and all of the parts rather well including the bolts and washers. As with my OCD, I ran the bolts and washers through my ultra sonic cleaner and then bagged and tagged them.

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Stock Exhaust Removal
Date: 06/26/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Over the course of the week prior to this, I had been popping the exhaust bracket bolts (7), Cat Clamp Bolt, and the Catalytic Converter bolts (4) with PB Blaster. Removing the Exhaust was fairly easy with the exception of removing it from the Catalytic Converter which was still mounted to the car. I will spare the detail but I eventual worked the muffler out. The Catalytic Converter would wait until the Fourth of July weekend.

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[JBaker4981]

Summer Overhaul: Part 3

Goodbye Catalytic Converter
Date: 07/03/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Allowing the nuts to soak in PB Blaster for another week, I was able to remove 3 of the four nuts without issues or broken studs. The real issue was the nut/stud behind the O2 sensor on the stock crossover pipe which was a literal nightmare to get to. After two trips to the hardware store, I bit the bullet and picked up a set of metric Crowfoot wrenches as I was looking for a 17mm one to which Harbor Freight's set skipped this size. Lowe's was the saving grace however the $50 price tag was not enjoyable. This one bolt is already more trouble than expect. At last, I got the stupid bolt off of the stupid nut and removed the stupid Catalytic Converter.

Disclaimer: No, I do not care about emissions and no, emissions do not exist where I live.

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Half an Oil Change
Date: 07/03/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Welp, I was already at the back of the car so why not? When in position, I decided to get rid of the EZ Valve and put the original drain plug back in primarily because the oils drains so ridiculously slow from the EZ Valve. The EZ Valve also leaked from the base slightly so if it is going to leak from the drain, might as well have the original plug in with a crush washer. When purchasing all of my parts ahead of time, I did order 10 crush washers (102101)... 1 for the oil pan, 1 for the transmission pan, and 2 for the Final Drive plugs when I get to it. While this oil change is not complete, I left it empty so that I can replace a switch and not have much of a mess. Side note, this oil change was over due :(

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Additional Parts

I spoke with Suzie at DMC Midwest on Friday 7/2 who informed me that the A/T Governor Computer had been rebuilt and is ready to be shipped. Awesome! We arranged to have it shipped on Tuesday 7/6 so that I can figure out anything else that maybe needed. With the removal of the Cat, now would be the perfect time to replace the leaky Oil Pressure Switch (102462) so I have it on my list to inform her to send one as well.

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Breaking into the CV Joints and Cleaning
Date: 07/03/2021 - 07/04/2021
Mileage: 40,396

How To Guide: CV Joint Rebuild Guide (https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/b55bc70e-923b-4ddc-9f6f-90e4df0ddf7f/downloads/CV%20Joint%20-%20Rebuild.pdf?ver=1621223396426)

Never having done anything like this and seeing pictures in various guides and threads, I was dreading this but it had to be done. I put some cardboard down on my table as a precaution (good idea), fetched a bucket and mixed degreaser/water, and prepared many rolls of paper towels. Using the guide above, I got to work and popped of the end cap of the first. Oh boy.

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Following the guide step by step by step, I eventually had the first CV Joint apart and spent a while wiping away grease. I had an empty box from Cascade Dish Detergent that I put all of the ball bearings and clips into and hit it with some hardcore spray on degreaser and kept it closed. Once I had all four CV Joints pulled apart and wiped down, I dropped everything in the bucket of degreaser/water to let things sit overnight. Allowing time for the parts to sit allowed me to focus on cleaning up the axles themselves which came out well.

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After all of the parts soaked over night, I pulled the parts out one at a time and went to work truly cleaning everything. One at a time, I focused on each part eventually had everything very clean and degreased with the exception of the large hubs. For the large hubs, I got them fairly clean however there is still grease in the very hard to reach places which is fine as it is not like these things aren't going to be repacked anyway.

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All of the ball bearings, clips, and other parts were bathed in the ultra sonic cleaner and thoroughly dried before setting aside. The only damaged piece that I have found is an endcap which I will ask DMC Midwest about replacing. Next will be rebuilding the CV Joints and putting things back together!

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[Helirich]

From the pics and assuming the fluid was't changed recently, I wouldn't be surprised if a filter wouldn't put it back on the road for quite a while. Rather than a channel being clogged , it looks like the filter was. Common for one to pack up as it gets warm and then release as it cools (or even just shut it off for a bit). And the fluid would be dark brown with clutch material and being over heated if the clutches were metal to metal.
...just suggesting to give it a chance to prove itself first, since worst case you'll only lose fluid and a filter.

I'm glad you suggested this. I was going to, but I thought everybody would say I'm getting his hopes up and doing more damage. For the cost of a filter and fluid, it's worth a try. He won't have to go 1500 miles to know. It will show up quick if there's a problem. (Probably the first drive)

[tommyrich]

As the former owner of 628, the transmission fluid, filter and gasket were all changed just prior to the sale. Thank you to Michael for providing new AT filters to the community. I believe it had the DPI silicone gasket as well.

The CV axles were refurbished and new boots were applied as well, but in my experience they boots don't last very long on automatic transmission Deloreans. The angle of the shafts have a lot to do with it. I have helped other automatic owners do the job multiple times on their same car. We even tried boots from different vendors. The advice that I have taken is to use "off-road" type boots that have much more flex to them. We did one car with them, but it was sold before a long enough period to evaluate their performance.

Good luck with getting it back on the road. And I hope your back is healing as well!
Tom

[Michael]

Those balls can be a bear to get back in but all in all, not a bad job, just a bit time consuming. I only did one axle a few months ago and didn't have time for the other side(wasn't busted anyway).

[JBaker4981]

As the former owner of 628, the transmission fluid, filter and gasket were all changed just prior to the sale. Thank you to Michael for providing new AT filters to the community. I believe it had the DPI silicone gasket as well.

The CV axles were refurbished and new boots were applied as well, but in my experience they boots don't last very long on automatic transmission Deloreans. The angle of the shafts have a lot to do with it. I have helped other automatic owners do the job multiple times on their same car. We even tried boots from different vendors. The advice that I have taken is to use "off-road" type boots that have much more flex to them. We did one car with them, but it was sold before a long enough period to evaluate their performance.

Good luck with getting it back on the road. And I hope your back is healing as well!
Tom

Yeah, the car has held up very well with the exception of the boots however I have heard the same thing regarding the off-road boots. To my understanding, this is what the LS guys are using and have heard a lot of success with them: 108MM OFF ROAD CV JOINT BOOT KIT W/ FLANGE FOR 930 CV JOINT (https://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=C13%2D86%2D9300K)

The gasket on the Trans pan was not the DPI silicone gasket but that's not a problem as I picked one up and all part of the plan :)

[tommyrich]

Yes, those boots look like the ones we used. They are not cheap, but after doing the CV axles, you probably don't want to do them again any time soon.

[Ron]

I'm glad you suggested this. I was going to, but I thought everybody would say I'm getting his hopes up and doing more damage. For the cost of a filter and fluid, it's worth a try. He won't have to go 1500 miles to know. It will show up quick if there's a problem. (Probably the first drive)Yeah, probably that day, if there's metal to metal.

Hopefully the discolored fluid is a sign of the beginning rather than the end...

[JBaker4981]

Yeah, probably that day, if there's metal to metal.

Hopefully the discolored fluid is a sign of the beginning rather than the end...

The beginning of what?

[Ron]

The beginning of what?Clutch material coming off of the plates (and frying of fluid).

[JBaker4981]

Clutch material coming off of the plates (and frying of fluid).

Got ya. It's going to be full send and we'll see what she does when she rolls down the road.

[JBaker4981]

Summer Overhaul: Part 4

Rebuilding the CV Joints
Date: 07/05/2021
Mileage: 40,396

While enjoying the last day of my Holiday break, I got bored so I decided to continue with the CV Joints. As noted by friends and various videos and threads seen, I was able to get the ball bearings and pieces into each hub and slotted onto the axle. All in all, this process took far less time than expected at 4-6 minutes each and they were fully assembled within 30-35 minutes. The most difficult part of the process was seating the clip at the end of the axle to hold everything on.

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With the axles ready, I went ahead and repacked grease into each assembly (front and back) and slid each boot in place. Unfortunately I do not have a clamp tool so I will have to borrow one from Autozone or O'Reilly. Until then, they are sitting on the table awaiting clamps and then reinstallation.

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[JBaker4981]

Summer Overhaul: Part 5

Finishing the Drive Axles
Date: 07/07/2021
Mileage: 40,396

When I decided to take lunch today (7/7/21), I took the drive axles down to a local 'good ole boy' auto repair shop to have them crimp the clamps down as I did not have the tool necessary to do this. They charged $10, I gave them $20. Easiest 10 minutes for this car so far. Now that these are prepped and 100% ready to go, these will be installed this weekend when I have a DeLorean buddy come over.

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Oil Pressure Switch Removal
Date: 07/07/2021
Mileage: 40,396

While this is straight forward, this guy had been weeping oil for over a year and I wanted to replace it while I have the CAT out of the car and also clean up the area. A replacement is on it's way from Midwest along with my AT Computer Governor which should be here tomorrow. Oil Pressure Switch Part # 102462.

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Final Drive Oil Change: Part 1
Date: 07/07/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Using our handy dandy workshop manual, this SHOULD have been straight forward but we know that these ARE DeLoreans after all. I had one hell of a fight inserting the 5/16" (8mm) socket into the hole of the Final Drive Drain Plug (Part # 103815). It turned out to have been deformed at some point in its life to the point where it was not completely square. A couple of friends suggested I just hammer the damn thing in and get it out and that is exactly what it took. It looked like at some point in its life, someone drilled into it in order to get a bite to get it out as well. No clue but I'll be phoning in a replacement in the morning with DMCMW.

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A/T Cooler Heat Exchanger
Date: 07/07/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Cleaning the surface of the A/T Cooler pipe with degreaser and ensuring it was completely clean, thermal paste was applied to the pipe all around and smoothed out evenly. This brings me back to my roots of building PCs. Once the thermal paste was applied, the heat sink itself wraps around the pipe and gets banded down as tight as possible. It took me several minutes to get it as tight as possible but it will not be sliding off. Honestly, I am very curious if I am going to see a difference on the temp gauge but this should lengthen the life of the transmission by dropping it up to 20 degrees.

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[JBaker4981]

Summer Overhaul: Part 5

New Oil Pressure Switch
Date: 07/08/2021
Mileage: 40,396

The new Oil Pressure Switch (Part #102462) arrived on 7/8 along with the rebuilt and upgraded A/T Governor Computer harness. The OPS had a new aluminum or stainless washer with it - no crush washer anymore. I hope these don't leak but alas, it was torqued down to 28ft lbs and reconnected. We'll see!

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The Other Half of the Oil Change
Date: 07/08/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Since the OPS was now installed, the other half of the oil change was completed. Castrol GTX 20W-50. 7.5 Quarts. Enough said.

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New Final Drive Drain Plug Installation
Date: 07/10/2021
Mileage: 40,396

The new magnetic drain plug (Part # 103815) arrived from DMCMW on 7/10. Surprisingly, this is a hex head drain plug with the same aluminum or stainless washer - no crush washer. The copper crush washers fit on this drain plug so I set the new washer aside in favor of a copper crush washer. Plug torqued down to 15ft lbs. Ready!

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A/T Governor Computer Installation: Part 1
Date: 07/10/2021
Mileage: 40,396

With Final Drive empty and the A/T Governor back from DMCMW, it was time to reinstall the unit! Following the previously mentioned guide on removal, the same steps apply to reinstall the unit. Once the Governor, Solenoid, and Switch were back in and bolted down (where applicable), the last thing is to push the Controller Box up through the bottom of the engine bay and to zip tie the cables away from the exhaust crossover pipe.

Unfortunately this is a two person job as it was a major bear to get it underneath the engine bay in the first place. A buddy is coming over on 7/11 to assist with this a couple of other items.

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New Transmission Filter Installation
Date: 07/10/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Though no pictures were taken of this, the new transmission filter with the cork gasket and magnet were installed back into the transmission. Not much else to say here.

Transmission Fluid Pan and Gasket Installation
Date: 07/10/2021
Mileage: 40,396

With the transmission filter, solenoid, and switch in place, it was time to seal everything up. I went ahead and reinstalled the drain plug, a new crush washer, and torqued it down to 15ft lbs with the transmission pan on the work bench. Easy. Getting the pan passed the coolant pipes and orientated correctly can be tricky but once you figure out the only way to do it, it's fairly easy. With the help of Rafael via text, he assisted me with
the torque of the 13 pan bolts as I was originally torqueing too much. (My torque wrench only goes down to 5.9ft lbs)

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Filling Final Drive with new Gear Oil
Date: 07/10/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Using 80W-90 Gear oil and a syphon pump, (Thanks for the tip Powerline84) filling Final Drive was quick and painless with one exception. I only bought 1 quart of Gear Oil and I have no idea why. After a trip to Autozone and Domino's Pizza, I filled Final Drive until it started to leak out of the fill hole as per the Workshop Manual and (user) Powerline84. Dope. A new crush washer goes on the plug and is torqued to 15ft lbs.

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What's Left?
Not. Much. Rex Bennett, my DeLorean buddy here in town, is coming over today (7/11) to assist with items noted with an asterisk. There is very few items to do until we fire the engine and check for leaks and levels.

Fill Transmission Fluid (2.75L to start)
Push A/T Controller Box into Engine Bay*
Install DPI High Flow Catalytic Converter*
Install Drive Shafts*
Install Muffler
Bolt Rear Drivers side wheel back on


Once all of that is done, the car should be ready to start again. There is a series of items that I will have to inspect upon starting as noted below. Afterwards, it should be ready for a test drive!

Check Oil Level
Check for Oil Leaks at Drain Plug and Oil Filter
Check Final Drive Drain Plug for leaks
Check A/T Transmission Fluid Level (Add if needed)
Check A/T Fluid Pan and Drain Plug for leaks
Check Oil Pressure Switch for leaks

[JBaker4981]

Summer Overhaul: The Final Update

An Unexpected Turn
Date: 07/11/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Well folks, here we are. The Final Update for my summer project. With my buddy coming over on Sunday, July 11th, 2021 around 2pm, I thought it would be a very swell idea to get things ready, sorted, and in order around 1pm. That little urge of "when you gotta go, you gotta go" swept over me and off the the bathroom I go. Seeing that the toilet could use a good cleaning, off to the upstairs guest bathroom I go to acquire toilet bowl cleaner and what do ya know? While I am up here, I might as well clean these as well.

So here I am, bending over some toilets and what do you think happens? I blow out my back. I re-herniated that same disc cleaning a stupid toilet. Not working on the stupid car. Cleaning a stupid toilet. F**k. I cancelled plans with Rex and rescheduled.

Let's flash forward to a real car update.

The Final Push to Finish the Car
Date: 07/24/2021
Mileage: 40,396

As I was on the mend (partially), Rex came over the morning of July 24th. There were a total of 4 things that I needed his help with specifically as I could not do them by myself even prior to hurting myself again.

Install DPI Catalytic Converter
Hang DPI Muffler & Adjust
Push A/T Control Box up into Engine Bay & Secure
Install Drive Shafts


While I could not be up and down all day, I stayed on the creeper and under the car most of the time. Together, we were able to get all of this accomplished plus mount the tire back on the car, fill up the Automatic Transmission with fluid, check for leaks, and lowered the car to the ground.

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A thousand thank yous to Rex Bennett for helping get this sucker back on the ground. I could NOT have done it without you!

Project Wrap-up
Date: 08/07/2021
Mileage: 40,396

Additional work had to hold off while my back continues to mend. Over the last couple of days, I have been working on filling up the Automatic Transmission with Dexron VI to the appropriate levels without over filling. With the transmission pan off of the unit for several weeks, this allowed a lot of the transmission fluid in the converter to drain out as well. For this iteration, it has taken approximately 1 gallon and 1 quart to reach adequate levels on the dipstick.

Prior to starting the car yesterday, I decided to take a very quick Cold Start video as the car had not been turned on for a couple of days. The DPI Exhaust sounds GREAT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-jaVvtqODI

I pulled the car out for a test drive today and she did fairly well however she still slips in third gear however not as severe. Unfortunately, the transmission will have to be pulled as this confirms the C2 Drum is losing pressure. Shit. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the car while I can.
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[Michael]

Not many DeLoreans have cold starts like that. Love it!!

PS: Was the "DLG Industries" electric tape boot repair still holding? We are approaching a year now and it would be awesome if it was still there.

[JBaker4981]

Not many DeLoreans have cold starts like that. Love it!!

PS: Was the "DLG Industries" electric tape boot repair still holding? We are approaching a year now and it would be awesome if it was still there.
Thanks! She starts reliably every time.... I say that now and she wont start tomorrow I bet.

It was on 2 of the 3 axle boots that were torn when I pulled them off. I rebuilt the CV Joints and replaced the axle boots during this summer overhaul. That picture is when I pulled the axles in June
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[Michael]

thanks! She starts reliably every time.... I say that now and she wont start tomorrow i bet.

It was on 2 of the 3 axle boots that were torn when i pulled them off. I rebuilt the cv joints and replaced the axle boots during this summer overhaul. That picture is when i pulled the axles in june
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I'm sorry but our warranty does not cover work performed by anyone other than us....CLAIM DENIED!!

As far as starting, no no no LOL! She will start every time UNTIL a group of onlookers going live on FB are recording...then she will get PMS.

[JBaker4981]

Car Shows and Enjoying The Car
Date: 08/08/2021 - 10/22/2021
Mileage: 40,396 - 40,837

Epilogue of Summer Maintenance
While the summer maintenance did not resolve the transmission issues of VIN 628, many items got addressed as well as upgraded. Despite the slippage in third gear, the transmission shifts beautifully after the A/T Governor was rebuilt by DMCMW as the trans now shifts smoothly. Previously, it would sometimes jerk when it shifted. Spending some time and miles with the car after the maintenance allowed me to hone in on how to replicate the issue every time and also allowed me to find a work around in order to drive the car and enjoy it.

Automatic Transmission Slip - Third Gear Run Down

Transmission up to Operating Temperature
In 3rd (Drive), upon accelerating between 45-60mph. Light acceleration is OK however moderate and strong acceleration (without downshift) will cause 3rd to slip.
When slowing down in 3rd, the transmission will jerk the car back and forth. (This is not a gear down)
Putting the car into 2nd gear resolves all aforementioned issues.


Since I have determined a work around, I was able to go about the remainder of my summer and enjoy the car. I would merge onto the interstate/highway in 2nd gear up to 65mph before shifting to Drive/3rd where the car was happy.

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Car Show: Baxter, TN - Harvest Festival 2021
Wanting to get back into Car Shows before the season ends, I shined up the car towards the end of September and took a nice drive to Baxter, TN. While I went to High School in the area, I had never heard of this Festival but it was apparently a big thing in the area with a few thousand people in attendance. The Festival took up the entire strip of the town (this is a farm town so think 2 gas stations, no traffic lights) with many vendors, live music stages, carnival games, food, etc. The Car Show was hosted on and around the bank parking lot. Getting there a bit early prior to registration, I was able to secure a spot front and center of the bank right next to the road and foot traffic. Hanging out and shooting the shit with the father/son team that parked their Shelby Mustang next to me, it turned out to be a great day and turn out.

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Car Show: Gainesboro, TN - Fire Department Car Show 2021
The weekend after, I took off to another car show in the town where I graduated High School. About 25 cars in attendance and it was a decent little turn out however it was quite hidden and out of sight of folks driving by.

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[JBaker4981]

Hankook Kinergy Tires
Date: 10/23/2021
Mileage: 40,837

In September when I was detailing the car for one of the car shows, I noticed a small gash in my back right tire. With an upcoming roadtrip, I was not going to chance it as I knew the tires were fairly old.

I ordered a set of Hankook Kinergy from Tire Rack on October 14th for a total of $460.60 and had them delivered to my local Firestone. On the morning of the 23rd, I took the car over and the mounted them on the car.

While I have put merely ~230 miles on the tires since install, I have noticed an incredible difference in the way the car handles and turns. The steering wheel is far easier to turn even in a parking lot... it feels like the car has power steering compared to the arm workout of the old tires. I'm simply impressed by the upgrade and simply should have done this sooner.

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[JBaker4981]

Road Trip Preparations and Detailing
Date: 10/24/2021 - 10/30/2021
Mileage: 40,857

While I have decided that I am no longer doing rentals, my wife's best friend since High School was getting married and the DeLorean was to be in the wedding (along with the wife as the Matron of Honor but that's less important in this forum). THIS is no ordinary wedding though... THIS is a NERD wedding. She works at ComicBook.com and they are both super nerds and genuinely great people. The kicker is that the wedding is a few miles from my family's old farm in Charlotte, TN and only a few miles further to our newest DeLorean Shop, Timeless Steel LLC (https://www.facebook.com/timelesssteell).

The overall plan for the car was to do the wedding and then we drop it off at Timeless Steel to have the transmission pulled to be rebuilt. With that said, the car only has to make it to the wedding and we are pretty much there.

My wife and I had a surprise brewing for Megan and Elijah... the plan was to deck the car out with BTTF props on the interior. One of our 'First Five' TNDMC Members hooked me up and let me borrow his Time Circuits, TDC, Plutonium Gauges, among other items to accomplish this. THANK YOU AGAIN DANIEL! My wife made vinyl decals with her Cricut for the Time Circuits to specifically say First Date, Engagement Date, and Wedding Date - the idea was to throw all of these up on the Time Circuits for their wedding day and this worked amazingly well.

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I wired everything up in the car to test out and of course I also had to play... I pulled this stuff out in advance of the Firestone appointment and so that I can also detail the F out of the car in preparation for said weeding. During this trial run of the BTTF stuff, I realize that the cool factor is definitely 12/10 but the comfort of the cabin is a -5/10 to me. For those of you who know who I am, I am a big guy. My knee lays against the center console which was taken up by the keypad of the Time Circuits. Also not being able to turn on headlights without doing a finger dance behind the keypad was not fun nor having the vents and radio blocked. I ultimately decided it would be far too much for me to drive the Titanic 2.5 hours away with everything set up and that I would set everything up once I got there.

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With the wedding rapidly approaching, I detailing the hell out of the car which honestly had not had a decent cleaning since the summer prior. I ended up putting around 11-13 hours of work into detailing the inside and outside of the car and MAN was it dirty in spots especially the wheels.

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Speaking of WHEELS... I've discovered something AMAZING! Kudos to Michael for discovering it and putting it online somewhere.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtoUW1BvtkY

Once the car was done and I mean completely ready to go from a cleaning perspective, I loaded up items for Timeless Steel, additional cleaning supplies for the wedding, all of the BTTF Props, and my shit the night prior to heading out. I've packed the hell out of this car a few times in the last couple of years but had to completely Tetris all of the BTTF props on the parcel shelf.

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[Michael]

Woahh! Those BTTF props are cool! I won't lie, I have given serious thought to doing a "quicky" BTTF kit for these cars. It would be a stand off scale, vacuum formed and modification free, lots of working lights and easily attached/removed.

Seeing this post has really sparked my imagination.

PS: your car looks amazing!

[JBaker4981]

Woahh! Those BTTF props are cool! I won't lie, I have given serious thought to doing a "quicky" BTTF kit for these cars. It would be a stand off scale, vacuum formed and modification free, lots of working lights and easily attached/removed.

Seeing this post has really sparked my imagination.

PS: your car looks amazing!

Thanks man, I really appreciate it! While I absolutely love the movies since I was a kid, I could never BTTF-ify my car. It is FUN however I prefer to enjoy the cars for what they are. Now Car Shows on the other hand... I do have a Flex Cucumber, a small Plutonium box, and a few other odds and ends that are small.

I really really do love the Plutonium Box. Daniel found them at a British company called Swan Flight. (https://www.swanflight.com/back-to-the-future-flightcases/7-200-1-21.html) It's absolutely the perfect size to fit behind the passenger seat or in the bonnet (with the top off the case) and is all aluminum. The sucker feels as rugged as my Pelican cases however it does not have any gaskets like Pelican does. I generally keep car show stuff in there - Micro Fiber Clothes, rags, cans of Invisible Glass, SS Polish, Tire Shine, and interior wipes, plus some do not touch signs, laminated Window Sticker, Museum Cert, TNDMC Flyer, and FAQs.

[JBaker4981]

Wedding Day
Date: 10/31/2021
Mileage: 40,857 - 41,036

The time had come... The big day. With the car having been loaded the night before, up and out I went by 7:30am. The goal was to be at the venue between 9 and 10 so that I could have enough time to do a last minute detail of the car and then to myself prior to the wedding. With the car's transmission in its current shape, all I had to do was make it to the wedding and I was basically at Timeless Steel. The plan was to merge onto interstates and highways as well as get up to speed in 2nd gear and then cruise in 3rd as to not put much strain on the C2 drum to cause it to slip. The plan worked. Theory proved. It was a very, very uneventful 2.5hr drive filled with Black Sabbath, Mtn Dew, and Alf.

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Alf is my Co-Pilot.

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Arriving as expected, I was able to prep the car and doll her up with all of the BTTF props. She looked good.

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If you have been reading previous posts, you may remember that this was a NERD Wedding. Oh it was in deed. Our friends and all of the guests absolutely loved the car. The plan was that they would do their walk out of the reception and leave in the car. Everything went off without an hitch!

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Night time shots

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With the wedding complete, the wife and I retired to our hotel nearby as the next step in this roadtrip is to say goodbye to the car.

Dropping the Car off at Timeless Steel
Date: 11/01/2021
Mileage: 41,071

The day was upon on us. We drop off 628 with Powerline84 at Timeless Steel LLC. It was a beautiful drive full of country roads in the foothills of Tennessee, old barns, and beautiful colors on the trees.

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The project is for the transmission to come out and be sent to a friend of ours to diagnose and be rebuilt during the winter.

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[Helirich]

Your car looks fantastic. When I take my car out, everybody says “It looks so clean and fantastic shape”. But when I see yours, I realize I’ve got a lot of work to get it clean. Lol.

[JBaker4981]

Your car looks fantastic. When I take my car out, everybody says “It looks so clean and fantastic shape”. But when I see yours, I realize I’ve got a lot of work to get it clean. Lol.

Thank you very much man, I really appreciate that! I like to think that my car is a clean one but it absolutely does not compare to Michael's or Col Bennett's cars.

[Michael]

Thank you very much man, I really appreciate that! I like to think that my car is a clean one but it absolutely does not compare to Michael's or Col Bennett's cars.

Col's dedication and attention to detail is something I have never seen before but admire and respect so much. I especially liked his post about detailing the wiring harnesses under the console and door panels and refurbishing the torsion bar areas in the door jambs.

[JBaker4981]

Col's dedication and attention to detail is something I have never seen before but admire and respect so much. I especially liked his post about detailing the wiring harnesses under the console and door panels and refurbishing the torsion bar areas in the door jambs.

Dude! That wiring harness post is what got my attention! It's absolutely incredible. He could give Deanna Buckingham a run for her money when it comes to cleanest DeLorean!

[JBaker4981]

Project Overview
The goal of this project is to Diagnose and fix the issue of the Transmission slipping in third gear. The theory that we had drawn was that there was an issue with the C2 drum that is causing a loss in transmission fluid pressure. The plan is for Timeless Steel to pull the transmission and crate ship it to our buddy to take apart, diagnose, and rebuild. While the transmission is out, Timeless Steel is to take care of a few miscellaneous items and when the trans comes back, to install and get the car back on the road.


Transmission Removal
Date: 11/14/2021
Mileage: 41,071

The transmission was drained of all fluids and removed within a couple of hours. Jimmy built a stout crate and we arranged shipping to our buddy in Florida.

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Suspension Upgrades and Odds & Ends
Date: 11/21/2021
Mileage: 41,071

While the transmission was in transit, there was a small list of items that I wanted Timeless Steel to tackle since I had not had the time.

Install Lower Control Arm Braces
Install New Connector on Oil Pressure Sender wire
Install Weatherpak Connectors on cooling fan wires/harness


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Automatic Transmission: Diagnosis
Date: 11/24/2021
Mileage: 41,071

What we had suspected turned out to be true. There was not only a fracture, but a complete split in the C2 drum... there it is. Upon further investigation, a large gouge on the inside of the hub located within the Hydraulic unit's case was discovered. Possibly whatever event led to the split in the drum caused the drum to slam into the side of the hub. Unfortunately the gouge was prominent that we were doubtful that it could be repaired in a manner where it still wouldn't hold pressure.

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At this point, I needed a new C2 Drum and a new case for the Hydraulic Unit... Already in a good $1,600 plus another $450 for clutch packs and a rebuilt kit. At this point, I decided not to venture down the rabbit hole anymore. I cut my losses and decided to order a new Hydraulic Unit from DMC along with some additional items.

Automatic Transmission: New Hydraulic Unit
Date: 12/11/2021 - 12/17/2021
Mileage: 41,071

The new Hydraulic Unit arrived and was bolted up. Rafael was able to move some items from my old unit to the new one in order to complete it. New Axle Flange Seals, Stainless Steel Flanges, Input Shaft Seal, and New Torque Converter all installed as well. At this point, it is being crated up and ready to go back up to TN to Timeless Steel and we are ready to rock!

[JBaker4981]

Rear Main Seal & Other Maintenance
Date: 12/31/2021
Mileage: 41,071

While the transmission was being shipped over the Christmas break, the car got a lot of love in preparation for the transmission to go back in. The Rear Main Seal had been leaking for a long time. Jimmy cleaned the back of the block and eliminated the massive buildup of grease, oil, and grime prior to installing a new Rear Main Seal. Along with this RMS, the oil in the car was also changed as well as the oil filter.

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A/T Installation
Date: 01/02/2022
Mileage: 41,071

With the transmission having arrived in Tennessee and in the hands of Timeless Steel Garage, Jimmy installed the transmission, new Transmission Mounts, new O-Rings for the A/T Dipstick Tube, and a new A/T Shift Cable. The previous cable had been chewed up and had been leaking AT Fluid out for some time and the rubber on the original transmission mounts were hard as a rock and needed to go.

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Finishing Up the Transmission
Date: 1/04/2022
Mileage: 41,071

Once the transmission in, Jimmy worked with adjusting the shift cable and the position with Rafael and was able to get it set to spec. The rubber on the motor mounts were almost in the same condition - Rotten and Hard. New Motor Mounts, New Ground Cables, ATF Dexron VI, and Gear Oil were all taken care of by TSG. At this point, she was ready to fire. Check out the YouTube Video from TSG

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https://youtu.be/i9zwB-EMa5M

628 Gets Her Stripes
Date: 1/05/2022
Mileage: 41,071

With the project nearly complete, the last order of business prior to a road test was to install the Wide Stripe kit that I had purchased from the late John Hervey (actually his wife). For those that do not know, Hervey was able to find a supplier that was able to replicate the original texture that the original dealer offer Wide Stripe kit had. These are really, really thick and should last a long time.

I think these cars look much more sexy with the Wide Stripes.

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Road-Test
Date: 1/11/2022
Mileage: 41,071 - 41,152

I asked Jimmy to take the car to work one day to give the car some exercise for its shake down cruise. Safe to say that the car was Timeless Steel approved and was ready to go.

https://youtu.be/ScFfI8zYqH4

[Helirich]

Looks like you will be ready for spring. I’m on the fence about the wide stripe. I look forward to some more pics of yours. It’s such a beautiful example.

[JBaker4981]

Pick Up!
Date: 01/22/2022
Mileage: 41,152 - ????

January 22nd, 2022 was the day. Finally. Good Ole' John Parsons came down the prior evening and went with my wife and I to go pick up the car. We were greeted by Jimmy and his wife with a warm welcome and shown the car. They ended up detailing it a few days prior and she was slick looking. Below are some of the photos of the work that was done.

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Among us coming up to TSG, a couple of our TNDMC members also showed up for the first start of a car that is being restored... this car has not ran in 38 years and it was a massive treat to get to witness this moment. Check out their video below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRwOBp-Dm1A

John, myself, and the wife headed out to get lunch and to also go our separate ways. While heading back home, we stopped off in Nashville to visit Lane Motor Museum since John had never been and we had a really great visit... Thanks Rex!

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Enjoying the Car
Date: 01/23/2022
Mileage: ???? - 41,341

The next day, we took the car out for some much needed road time. I took John through the valleys, mountains, switchbacks, and foothills of rural Tennessee on a nice 2 hour drive. When I say rural, it truly it rural. No cell service, plenty of sheer drops off the mountains with no guard rails, nor did we pass anyone in the 55 minutes that it took to get to the next town. Rural.

Regardless, it was a great day to put many many miles on the car.

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Wrap Up
I personally want to thank Jimmy & Shaylen Houston and Rafael Cruz on their hard work on this project. Y'all are the best and this could not have been done without you all.

I want to give a shout out to Jimmy's newest business - Timeless Steel Garage: https://timelesssteelgarage.com/

Thank you to all of the vendors that helped us with the Project - DMC Houston, DMC Midwest, and Rob Grady. Thank you to Steven Wynne for assisting with the Hydraulic Unit items.


Items Replaced during Project

Installed Lower Control Arm Braces
Installed WeatherPak Connectors on Cooling Fans
Installed new connector on Oil Pressure Sender
Installed new SS Axle Flanges
Installed new Axle Flange Seals
Installed new A/T Seals
Installed new Input Shaft Seal
Installed new Hydraulic Unit
Installed new Rear Main Seal
Oil Change!
Installed new A/T Mounts
Installed new A/T Dipstick O-Rings
Installed new A/T Shift Linkage Cable
Installed new Motor Mounts
Installed Dual Ground Cable
Installed Wide Stripe Kit


The car now drives PERFECTLY

[JBaker4981]

Winter Stuff & Forward Loom Cover
Date: 01/29/2022
Mileage: 41,341

Having the car back is great! Now I can stare at her and rub her with a diaper during these Winter months. One thing that I had been wanting to do is reroute the unsightly engine harness under the mixture unit and also wrap it in a new loom to clean things up a bit. Taking off the W-Pipe, Throttle Spool, Air Box, Mixture Unit Mounts, and Pipe of Agony makes this process a lot easier. I was able to wrap the main harness in a 3/8" wrap to protect it from heat and other conditions and route it under the throttle body and around in a manner that it clears the throttle bar.

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I also took this time to restore my Stainless Steel Throttle Spool Cover as it had multiple scratches and hardware marks on it. Using a Scotch Pad and stainless steel polish, I was able to remove the scratches and regrain the plate. Much nicer looking!

The Forward Loom Cover can be purchased from DeLorean Parts Northwest via this link: https://www.delorean-parts.com/product/forward-loom-cover-automatic-transmission/

The Forward Loom Cover hides the Ballast Resistor, harness, and everything on the back wall at the expense of removing the Engine Cover Stay Bracket. This ultimately makes the engine compartment look less busy and serves another function - this makes the Bulk Head Connector Cover actually STAY ON. I love this upgrade!

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Going Forward
This year is going to be a big year for our TN DeLorean Motor Club and I plan on enjoying this car as much as I can this year. I plan on getting the following things done by April so that the car can be enjoyed to its fullest potential.

Adjust Headlight Buckets and Positioning
Bleed, Vaccum, and Refill HVAC System to Spec
WINDOW TINT (to keep the inside cooler in Summer)
175F Thermostat

[Helirich]

Sounds like good times. I love that Lane museum. I tell everyone going to Nashville to visit. Your car looks great. The DMC in the stripes is cool. Also those two slanted lines at the back. Is that all stock?

I had to stare at your pics to understand why your interior looks so much better than mine. I figured out a big part is your door sills are clean. Lol. I guess I need to get busy.

I bet it drives nice with the lower control arm braces. That was probably the biggest change on mine. Later I installed the shock tower braces. I didn’t notice as much there. People on this site told me that would be a major improvement. I’ve come to believe that which ever you do first will be the big change. Than, if you choose, the other will give a smaller improvement.

[JBaker4981]

Sounds like good times. I love that Lane museum. I tell everyone going to Nashville to visit. Your car looks great. The DMC in the stripes is cool. Also those two slanted lines at the back. Is that all stock?

I had to stare at your pics to understand why your interior looks so much better than mine. I figured out a big part is your door sills are clean. Lol. I guess I need to get busy.

I bet it drives nice with the lower control arm braces. That was probably the biggest change on mine. Later I installed the shock tower braces. I didn’t notice as much there. People on this site told me that would be a major improvement. I’ve come to believe that which ever you do first will be the big change. Than, if you choose, the other will give a smaller improvement.

Thanks man! It does drive well with the braces and the front strut tower brace under the bonnet.

Are you near Nashville? If not then you should hit me up next time you are somewhere in TN and we can meet up and get a bite or something. Always nice meeting DeLorean owners from all over

[Helirich]

Thanks man! It does drive well with the braces and the front strut tower brace under the bonnet.

Are you near Nashville? If not then you should hit me up next time you are somewhere in TN and we can meet up and get a bite or something. Always nice meeting DeLorean owners from all over

Not close. (About 7 hours) I do have friend that moved up there and plan to visit at some point. Not sure if I will bring the D. I would love to go see that guy with the eco boost D also. When my plans get more solid, I’ll see.

[JBaker4981]

Air Scoops meant for Legends
Date: 02/07/2022
Mileage: 41,483

The Legend Industries cars always caught my eye with their hard to miss side scoops on the rear quarter panels and once DeLoreanGo/James started to offer 3D printed versions of them, I knew it was only a matter of time before a pair would grace my car.

Vendor: DeLorean Go
URL: Part Number - SIDESCOOPSA (https://www.deloreango.com/us/side-scoops-with-hole.html)

Installation was very simple if you follow the directions to a T. Using the supplied 3m double sided tape and zip tie, each air scoop went on easily however my perfectionism got the better of me and I found myself adjusting their position on the stainless steel multiple times.

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As an abundance of caution, I used RTV and very precisely used it to the air scoops to the stainless so they would not fly off. Using a couple of bamboo shrimp/kabob skewers, I was able to fill the RTV into the gaps between the stainless, air scoop, and 3m tape to completely secure it. This was done twice to ensure these things would not go flying into someone's car at 80mph on the interstate.

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New Bonnet Dome Light
Date: 02/07/2022
Mileage: 41,483

Confession time. Two years ago when I was going through the car and doing LED upgrades on everything, I messed up the dome light under the hood/bonnet. Using a bigger bulb that I should have (IIRC I got them mixed up), I accidentally snapped the metal clip that holds the bulb in place (and it also allows power to flow to the bulb). ANYWAY, my remedy was electrical tape on the inside of the dome light. Every time I opened and closed the hood, that little voice in the back of my head kept telling me that one day that bulb was going to go flying INTO the hood.

Vendor: DeLorean Go
URL: Part Number - 100440 (https://www.deloreango.com/us/courtesy-light-luggage-bay.html)

'Twas about time this was replaced and honestly I didn't realize how weathered and discolored the original was!

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Taillight Assembly: Screws and Preventative Maintenance
Date: 02/12/2022
Mileage: 41,483

The existing taillight screws had been rusting for some time and making an unsightly rust coloration in the screw holes of the taillight assembly so that had to go. Apparently these have washers that go in them that I was missing as well... Who knew?

Vendor: DeLorean Go
URL: Part Number - 106272 (https://www.deloreango.com/us/stainless-tail-light-screw.html)
URL: Part Number - 101485 (https://www.deloreango.com/us/tail-light-washer.html)

I pulled everything apart and decided it was time to clean everything anyway as well as do a bit of preventative maintenance. I carefully pulled all of the pins off of the taillight connector and soaked them in a mixture of Vinegar/Salt Water and washed it off with Water/Baking Soda as I had with other connectors before. Once dry, I reseated the pins in the connectors (and checked it was correct 47 times) and applied dielectric grease to all of them. I also wiped off the taillight boards and thoroughly cleaned the taillight assemblies. Of course, it was all reassembled with the new screws and washers and just looks way better.

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On/Off and Alignment Plate
Date: 02/12/2022
Mileage: 41,483

The Defrost switch has been deleted in my car for over a year (will never need) however I retained the wiring underneath the center console. I wanted those On/Off Switches from DGo to replace the Defroster switch and the two caps. Easy enough. Though not hooked up to anything yet, they feel much better than those stupid caps. At the same time, I also opted to reinstall my DGo alignment plate for all of the switches.

Vendor: DeLorean Go
URL: Part Number - 101638 (https://www.deloreango.com/us/on-off-switch.html)
URL: Part Number - 111177A (https://www.deloreango.com/us/console-switch-aligner-plate-stainless.html)

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Note: For anyone installing the new On/Off Switches in the alignment plate, they do not fit by default. You will have to file down the sides and corners in order to get them to fit.


Stainless Steel Door Letters
Date: 02/12/2022
Mileage: 41,483

I had these letter for quite a while and have wanted to install them.... the time was now (technically then). While I did not take pictures of the process, rest assured that I pulled both sills and thoroughly cleaned them. Using black RTV again, the stainless letters went on easily and I let them adhere over night. When I was ready, I applied some RTV to the prongs on the underside so that the door sills would be secured.

Vendor: DeLorean Go
URL: Part Number - SILLLETTERS (https://www.deloreango.com/us/stainless-steel-door-sill-lettering-set-of-6.html)

68247

[JBaker4981]

Dave McKeen Dual Side Marker Blinker Unit
Date: 03/06/2022 - 03/10/2022
Mileage: 41,655

We all know Dave McKeen makes AMAZING products and this is no different. While I have had this in a box for almost a year, I had really wanted to install it ever since I saw this run at night on Dondeana's car (5292) in person. The added safety is simply a peace of mind for me as oncoming traffic cannot tell if you are turning left, right, or going straight.

The installation process for a non-electrical savy person (like me) is a little hard to follow and the other video of how to install this leaves a lot to be desired so... I made a quick one.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsHiWmG_DwI

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All connections were made with butt connectors, dielectric grease, and heat shrink. After testing the installation and buttoning the side markers back up, I went ahead and used a mix of 3/4" and 1/2" Wiring Loom from Harbor Freight to make my own harness to keep things nice and neat. Taking it one step further, I wrapped the entire thing (tightly) in electrical tape to make it very difficult for moisture to get into. I also did this for the main front harness that is behind the grill as well.

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Headlight Wiring Repair
Date: 03/12/2022 - 03/13/2022
Mileage: 41,655

Another Confession. I am not an electrician and I made some really terrible, rookie mistakes when wiring my LED headlights over two years ago. While they DID work fine, holy sh*t there were some really bad practices that were followed from other YouTube Videos. Take note to the pictures below. There were even a few pins that already had corrosion... after 2 years. Enough of this sh*t... this needs to be done right!

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I undid everything and pulled everything off, back to stock. Using what I know now, I used my Vinegar/Salt Water and Water/Baking Soda solutions yet again to de-corrode everything. I took the third party H4 connectors and made them into solid harnesses out of wiring loom, electrical tape, and heat shrink as well as applied dielectric grease to all of the pins on the connectors. I went back to the factory wiring and did the same thing and wrapped everything in wiring loom, heat shrink, and electrical tape.

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I ended up making each headlight harness literally plug and play with all H4 plugs.

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When it came time to reinstall and test the headlights, I was a few screws short for the headlight bezel brackets so a trip to Lowe's was in order. The below is an EXACT screw needed for the headlight bezels so I picked up enough to replace them all.

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Front End Assembled once again:

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Side Note: I am not a professional and while my front end wiring work is not professional, it is light years beyond what it was (even factory) and should hold up for the next many decades.


Preventative Maintenance on All Exterior Bulbs
Date: 03/13/2022
Mileage: 41,655

At this point, I pulled all of my lenses, side markers, and tail lights again and applied dielectric grease on all of them. Don't want these suckers to corrode and stop working.


Headlight Adjustment
Date: 03/16/2022
Mileage: 41,655

This was long over due. Enough said. My headlights were pointed in multiple directions... about like the eyes of a Pug. Now they are beaming directly out front as they should and they look way better too! A lengthy country drive on that evening was in order.

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New Headlight Finishers
Date: 03/17/2022
Mileage: 41,714

With my last DGo order, I did purchase some new Headlight Finishers in Stainless/Black. Woot Woot!

Vendor: DeLorean Go
URL: Part Number - 101602B (https://www.deloreango.com/us/headlight-gap-finishers.html)

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Seatbelt Bolt Cap
Date: 03/19/2022
Mileage: 41,714

I had been missing the passenger side cap for the seatbelt anchor towards the bottom of the car for as long as I have had the car. A little bit of Caulk, a little bit of pressure. Good Enough!

Vendor: DeLorean Go
URL: Part Number - 106915 (https://www.deloreango.com/us/seat-belt-seal-cap-cover.html)

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[Helirich]

Lots of fine detail. I’m surprised you didn’t get stainless screws for your headlights. I’m sure those will last a long time. I suppose I should get some of those headlight finishers. Mine didn’t come with any. Is that a stock part? Does it make the lights more ridged?

[JBaker4981]

Lots of fine detail. I’m surprised you didn’t get stainless screws for your headlights. I’m sure those will last a long time. I suppose I should get some of those headlight finishers. Mine didn’t come with any. Is that a stock part? Does it make the lights more ridged?

The headlight finishers are a stock part and they can become very brittle with age. The ones that I picked up are SS and finished in black. I'm sure a NOS pair is much cheaper

[JBaker4981]

3M Ceramic Window Tint
Date: 03/29/2022
Mileage: 41,802

One thing on my To-Do list is final marked off - Window Tint. The real reason why I wanted to have the windows tinted specifically with a good Ceramic 3M product is basically for heat reduction inside the cabin. The tint used provides 90% reduction in all Heat coming through the glass.

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The Windshield is tinted 70% - this is basically a clear ceramic tint. There is not much difference other than it has a nice effect of tinting the illumination from headlights that are coming towards you.

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The doors and quarter panel glass is tinted down to 35% which is the legal limit here in Tennessee. I opted to leave the actual rear window as is so that I am not looking through two panels of tinted glass at night (plus its constantly shaded by the louvres anyway)

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The company that I used was Sundown Window Tinting in Cookeville, TN (https://www.facebook.com/sundown.windowtinting.3). For all of the ceramic tint and labor, it came out to $658 including tax and ultimately I am super happy with the end result. I could immediately tell a difference when I got in the car from where it was sitting outside for a couple of hours and the overall driving experience is much more comfortable.

[Timeless]

Ceramic tint is key especailly when the car is active in a sunny and warm climate. Windshields are too often overlooked and they are the most important to tint being a large piece of glass at an extreme angle letting lots of light/UV in.
Being in S. Florida all my vehicles are tinted (Autobahn i3) and my D will getting the same treatment.

[Helirich]

3M Ceramic Window Tint
Date: 03/29/2022
Mileage: 41,802

One thing on my To-Do list is final marked off - Window Tint. The real reason why I wanted to have the windows tinted specifically with a good Ceramic 3M product is basically for heat reduction inside the cabin. The tint used provides 90% reduction in all Heat coming through the glass.
.

As I understand it, it cuts all UV light. That and the heat reduction should help make the interior last longer. I tell everyone to tint their glass, even if you don’t like dark tint, go with the clear stuff. I did leave my back window for the same reasons as you.

[JBaker4981]

As I understand it, it cuts all UV light. That and the heat reduction should help make the interior last longer. I tell everyone to tint their glass, even if you don’t like dark tint, go with the clear stuff. I did leave my back window for the same reasons as you.

I can confirm that after an amazing weekend trip with our DeLorean club this weekend, the Ceramic Tint was the best thing that I have done to improve the comfortness of the car. Almost 400 miles this weekend and the window tint helped immensely

[JBaker4981]

TNDMC does Pigeon Forge!
Date: 04/02/2022 - 04/03/2022
Mileage: 41,817 - 42,246

The TN DeLorean Club had their first meet of the year on the first weekend of April in Pigeon Forge, TN. 11 DeLoreans, 18 people, and lots of fun and laughs.

The group met at Calhoun's for lunch on Saturday and then went to the Titanic Museum, Star Cars, Ole' Smokey Moonshine Distillery, Mellow Mushroom Pizza, the Island, and many more places over the course of 2 days!

Check out our 186 photo gallery of the Pigeon Forge event on our website! (https://tn-dmc.com/photos%3A-april-2022-pf)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nJwFsrKu7U

With the ceramic window tint, the entire trip was enjoyable for both my wife and I even without working AC!


TNDMC goes to the Timeless Steel Garage Open House Party & Tech Weekend!
Date: 04/22/2022 - 04/24/2022
Mileage: 41,398 - 42,634

Timeless Steel Garage (https://timelesssteelgarage.com/) had their Grand Opening Party and Tech Weekend on the weekend of April 23, 2022. Many people from all over, as far as Wisconsin, drove and flew down to Southside, TN to hang out, turn wrench, offer tech tips, and simply have a good time.

The weather could not have been better for this weekend. Flame Throwers, Beer, Whiskey, DeLoreans, Bonfires, Burgers, Dogs, Laughs, Friends, and Wrenches had by all

Check out our 207 photo gallery of the event on our website! (https://tn-dmc.com/photos%3A-april-2022-tsg)

With the help of Kyle, I was able to get the AC System working again via a new Low Pressure Switch. I had previously troubleshot this part and it was known to be bad. Unfortunately on the way home, I noticed that my engine temps were creeping up to 220 while on the interstate running the air conditioning. I monitored it and ran without AC for the rest of the drive without issue however this had spawned me to post about it here: https://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?18974-Temp-Goes-Up-With-AC&p=271436&viewfull=1#post271436

(We will come back to the Cooling System soon!)


New Thermostat.... Stat!
Date: 05/05/2022
Mileage: 42,634

After the fiasco with the Automatic Transmission, I really want to keep the A/T as cool as possible and it was recommended that a lower temp thermostat may assist. With the help of Daniel, one of the TNDMC members, who pointed me to this Gates Thermostat on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C2SCXI?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) (a 180F thermostat), I replaced it and bled the system prior to a successful test drive.

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[JBaker4981]

BREAKDOWN!
Date: 05/10/2022
Mileage: 42,718

After venturing off for lunch in #628 and returning into the sub-division.... Cut. Yes, the motor just cut. Upon coming over the rail road tracks in front of our subdivision, the motor simply cut out. I coasted into the entrance of our subdivision and attempted to start the car with no success. I slowed down and read through the PJ Grady Glove Box Book and checked everything that I could visibly check. Unfortunately within a couple of minutes, I was fairly certain that it was fuel pump related. With the help of a couple of neighbors, we pushed the car into the sub division and down the road to my drive way.

I am thankful that I did not break down anywhere else other than 200ft from the house.



Fuel Pump Circuit Issues
Date: 05/10/2022 - 05/13/2022
Mileage: 42,718

Upon inspection of the car in the drive way and the hot May sun, I was able to get the car started after unplugging and plugging in the connectors at the Fuel Pump and Sender unit. YES! I drove it up the drive way and into the garage to the solace of shade, a box fan, and music. Upon closer inspection and while making a video for a few buddies (IE group chat), I uncovered a REALLY hot wire and connector at the fuel pump... specifically the 2-pin connector going to the Fuel Sender.

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The wires and connector for the 2-pin connector at the Fuel Sender were very hard, oxidized, and overall just not in great condition. This was completely cut out and replaced with a 2-Pin Weatherpak connector and new 16ga wire. All connections were made with either solder or butt connector and followed up with dielectric grease and heat shrink.

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The inertia switch was also completely replaced with a NOS unit as a precaution. The wires going into the 3-pin connector into the inertia switch had seen WAY better days as well and needed to be completely replaced. I was unable to save the female spade connectors for the inside of the inertia switch connector so I used my own and replaced the poor wiring as well.

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Having come this far, I decided to go ahead and replace the very tired spade connectors at the ballast resistor. Out with the old, in with the new.

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After putting several miles on the car and letting it idle for over 2 hours, the car did not shut off by itself nor were the new wires getting hot. The ultimate test would be the road trip that is the following day...

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TNDMC visits the National Corvette Museum
Date: 05/14/2022
Mileage: 42,741 - 43,068

TNDMC visited the National Corvette Museum of Bowling Green, KY where we got to tour the facility, get some pretty awesome pictures made, and meet the new Kentucky members of the TN Club.

Check out our 203 photo gallery of the event over at our website! (https://tn-dmc.com/photos%3A-may-2022-ncm)

During this trip, #628 did well with all of the Fuel Pump electrical issues without a single electrical related hiccup. Unfortunately this did not mean that she was out of the woods as she is now experiencing higher than normal temperatures without running the AC system. Though she made it home in one piece, she is about to get torn into soon in order to diagnose and resolve this cooling system.

[JBaker4981]

Finalizing the Fuel Pump Fixes
Date: 05/21/2022
Mileage: 43,097

Now that the Kentucky trip was done, it was time to go back and fix the new wiring now that it was proven. I used Flex Tubing (AKA to me as 'loom') from Lowes... specifically 1/2" and 3/8". Going back into everything, I verified that there was no signs of distressed wires or melted tape, insulation, or anything. The Flex Tubing was used to replace the wrap on the DMCH Digital Fuel Sender as well as additional sheathing everything down the line. From there, I did the same thing with the Inertia Switch and the new wires.

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New A/T Quadrant
Date: 05/22/2022
Mileage: 43,097

'nuff said.

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Getting Car Show Ready!
Date: 05/18/2022 - 05/25/2022
Mileage: 43,097

There's a car show that I have always loved, always wanted to take my DeLorean to one day.... The Heritage Day Car Show hosted by the Middle Tennessee Regional AACA at Granville, TN.

I originally went to this car show 2 years ago (this post) (https://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?17751-Living-the-Dream-VIN-0628&p=258825&viewfull=1#post258825) and it was a great experience. Now that it is car show season, that time is upon us once again.

Well, how many hours did you put into cleaning the silly car? I didn't keep track but probably ~30 hours. I have a laundry hamper full of car towels and were all washed 3 times before I called the car done.

This car hasn't been this clean in years and now I don't want to take the car cover off, haha!

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[JBaker4981]

Car Show Day!
Date: 05/28/2022
Mileage: 43,097 - 43,168

The Heritage Day Car Show, hosted by the Middle Tennessee Regional AACA, at Granville, TN was on May 28th, 2022 from 9a - 3p. Learning from past experiences, apparently folks like to start rolling in two hours prior so that was my plan.... I ended up getting into the car show registration around 730a to find around 30 cars had already moved through and found their spots in the field. I was able to secure a spot up near the road, again, where foot traffic was entering the car show. What Luck!

I had overhauled my car show box for this year to include framed Window Sticker, Original Owner Cert, and a TNDMC and DMC FAQ flyer that I made, a few props such as Tales from Space and Gray's Sports Alamanc, Hoverboard, Flux Capacitor, and least we forget... Alf. At the end of the day, I ended up scoring 2nd place in my class of 'Designated Sports Car'. This was also a record show for Midd-Tenn AACA as this was the biggest show at this location for them with 361 cars!

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Check out the album from the car show! (https://photos.app.goo.gl/QbHPBUfKs5fS5L7u7)


Enjoyment and Evening Adventures
Date: 05/29/2022 - 06/05/2022
Mileage: 43,168 - 43,231

What better way than to enjoy a DeLorean than some evening cruises with some good 80s rock, AC on, and windows up? Nothing! I decided that I was going to enjoy the car on a few evening cruises prior to work commencing on the cooling system... 'nuff said.

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The Cooling System Grind: Part 1
Date: 06/06/2022
Mileage: 43,231

This came out of no where - what's up? Well here's the thing... since discovering that my engine temperature rises under load (interstate driving - above 75F), doing some research, and discussing with friends, I believe that there are two paths forward right now.

Water Pump: The Water Pump is not circulating like it used to and is in need of a rebuild or replacement
Rust/Deposits: There are deposits in the engine block's water jackets that are caked in and effecting cooling performance


We have a TNDMC event coming up on June 19th and again on June 25th. The goal is to have the car back on the road by the 19th....Here we go.

Starting with the idea of rust and sh*t in the engine block, I used Prestone Cooling System Cleaner (https://www.autozone.com/antifreeze-radiator-additives-and-windshield-wash-fluid/radiator-flush/p/prestone-radiator-flush-cleaner-22oz/223022_0_0?spps.s=2318&cmpid=LIA:US:EN:AD:NL:1000000:GEN:10574827360&gclid=CjwKCAjw7vuUBhBUEiwAEdu2pDg_jhstwpqlSUf9CRFh kFjD6YLsdW54fhgoXmNLUYF4vHigsYr5ORoCn-gQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) and emptied about 24oz of cooling from the radiator bleeder and then dumped the bottle in the tank. I ran the car up to temp for 3 cycles before shutting her down. The idea here is to let this breakdown any rust in the system over 24-30 hours and then do a complete cooling system flush.

[Helirich]

That looks like quite a car show. I take it, you had the only Delorean? Good luck on the cooling system. I’m too lazy to look back, but didn’t you replace the water pump a year or so ago?

[JBaker4981]

That looks like quite a car show. I take it, you had the only Delorean? Good luck on the cooling system. I’m too lazy to look back, but didn’t you replace the water pump a year or so ago?

Thanks! Yes, I had the only DeLorean there.

As for the WP, negative. I have not replaced it - it's a rebuilt volvo water pump and have only had it out of the car when I did a VOD project a little over two years ago

[JBaker4981]

The Cooling System Grind: Part 2

The Flush
Date: 06/07/2022
Mileage: 43,235

With the Prestone Citric Acid in the system and having ran the car for 3 cycles, I took the car out to run down to get lunch as well as a Walmart run before she goes up on jack stands for the next couple of weeks. I picked up a pair of cheap cat litter boxes as well as a larger one at Walmart for use with emptying the Coolant and doing several flushes since I do not want the car to p*ss coolant and water everywhere.

Seriously folks, if you do not want a mess and do not have enough buckets and things laying around... I spent around $17 on those 3 litter boxes while a 5 gallon bucket at Walmart was $11.98!

With the car on jack stands and cooled down, I went to work pulling hoses, pipes, and drain plugs to empty out the entire system. Once all of the coolant was poured into a 5 gallon bucket from the litter boxes, I performed a lengthy coolant flush with the garden hose and allowed everything to pour into those litter boxes. I put the drain plugs back in with their old crush washers and put the hoses and pipes back together (but not clamped). The system was filled as much as possible and the car started, burped, water added, burped, etc until she ran a couple of fan cycles with just straight water.

Afterwards, I pulled those drain plugs, pipes, and hoses to allow everything to drain and once more, flushed the system one last time. The end result was clear with not much deposits.

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I assume that if there is still an issue after this flush and after a new Water Pump, then it is probably hard deposits that would have to be manually scrapped out. That'll be later if needed.


The Vents
Date: 06/08/2022
Mileage: 43,235

Knowing that I was going into the VOD again, I placed a DGo order with new Banjo Bolts, crush washers, and some odds and ends. I like to throw a few things in every order I place in order to work towards fixing those 'minor cosmetic annoyances' and this is one of those things.

My door ducts have been blocked off using those caps that fit into the Duct to Door Seal and those seals have barely been retaining the caps due to their air and wear. These were replaced as well as the Door Duct Retainer on the Passenger side. Now these look new, great, and will now stay!

Duct to Door Seal (https://www.deloreango.com/us/door-vent-ducting-adapter-seal.html)- $9.95
Duct to Door Retainer (https://www.deloreango.com/us/retainer.html) - $6.99

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The Valley
Date: 06/08/2022 - 06/09/2022
Mileage: 43,235

There is not a lot to say about this other than just a normal valley job in order to get down to the Water Pump! During the course of this project, I will also be doing a few extra things such as new DPI Fuel Injector Retaining Clips, Checking Spark Plugs, refreshing rear main harness connections, etc.

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The Oil
Date: 06/10/2022
Mileage: 43,235

Oil. Changed. Woot Woot!

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The Drain Plugs
Date: 06/10/2022
Mileage: 43,235

Seeing the really terrible shape of the drain plugs, I decided that it would be best to replace these as well. Out with the old and in with the new!

Oil Sump Drain Plug (https://www.deloreango.com/us/oil-sump-drain-plug.html) - $3.47

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The Water Pump
Date: 06/10/2022
Mileage: 43,235

With the oil changed and the rest of the plumbing buttoned back up completely, I moved onto pulling the Water Pump off and examining it. At inspection, the impeller is rocking it at 4.28mm. While I am going to rebuild the existing one that I have, this will be replaced so that I have the rebuilt Volvo unit ready to go on the shelf at a later time.

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The Injectors
Date: 06/11/2022
Mileage: 43,235

After my panic attack during the Timeless Steel Garage (https://timelesssteelgarage.com/) Grand Opening Tech Weekend where my #2 injector popped out, I ordered Josh's Fuel Injector Retaining Clips pretty promptly. Unfortunately, I am simply just now getting to them. One of my injectors were unable to fit so this one will need to be replaced however in the mean time, 5 of 6 are now installed into the car. The remaining item will be to reinstall the fuel lines but not until a new injector arrives and I putting her together again.

DPI Fuel Injector Retaining Clips (https://deloreanindustries.com/online-store/new-products/11-integrated-injector-seal-retainer-system-kit/) - $155.09

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