VIN 559 - Captain's Log [Archive] - DMCTalk Forum

Shep

06-02-2012, 12:16 AM

After a well-hidden history, VIN 559 is now quite public! I never liked it when a rare car is bought and kept in seclusion. If you're going to have a piece of history, let everyone else enjoy it too! There's so little known about VIN 559 by the DeLorean community that I decided I was going to document all my work on it in this Captain's Log (I may have watched Star Trek: Enterprise in my earlier days, hence the title).

From highest to lowest priority, here are the areas I have to work on:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem01s.JPG
Broken window regulator

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem02s.JPG
Unattached seat reclining mechanism

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem03s.JPG
Bent radiator windscreen

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem04s.JPG
Missing tire valve caps

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem05s.JPG
Broken horn (may be low battery)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem06s.JPG
Malfunctioning taillights

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem07s.JPG
Dirty battery compartment

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem08s.JPG
Droopy Doors

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem09s.JPG
Missing glovebox lock

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem10s.JPG
Missing battery access cover screws

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem11s.JPG
Damaged tape/label under hood latch

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem12s.JPG
Broken weatherstripping

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem13s.JPG
Gas Cap doesn't lock

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem14s.JPG
Unattached and missing bonnet carpeting

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem15s.JPG
Sagging headliner

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem16s.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem17s.JPG
Interior heat damage

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem18s.JPG
Broken louvers (strut bracket)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem19s.JPG
Splitting shifter knob

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem20s.JPG
Driver's door handle vinyl wear

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem21s.JPG
Red paint in engine compartment

So there's 20 areas of VIN 559 that need attention before I'll consider it immaculate. Right now, I fixed the window to the extent that I am able to (I'll let DPI Josh do the rest), the seat reclining mechanism is reattached, the horn may work (haven't tried, but I think it's just a dead battery), and the red paint I'm not going to fix.

Long term plans, I plan on getting PJ Grady taillight boards, since some lights don't work yet every single bulb is intact (I've heard rumors they may no longer stock that part though...). I also intend on removing the bonnet carpeting entirely to make room for a car info sheet that fits nicely in the recess. What better place for it than right there? I also have an unfinished RepRap (http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap), which I will be using to print a couple brackets for the broken louvers prior to its first public appearance. I may also print out some plastic cupholders for the center tray behind the ashtray.

Shep

06-02-2012, 12:17 AM

Now for some rarities!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Rarities/Resized/Rarity01s.JPG
I first heard about my hood being unique from the previous owner's friend (who was storing it at the time). Rich W. later clarified this: take a look at the bottom half of the "X". See those four large holes with the plugs in them? Those plugs are the same ones used in the brake fluid access cover by the gas cap. Rich recalls the original owner saying the holes exist to test hood light wiring. By the way, please excuse the poor carpet job in that picture, it's on my todo list!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Rarities/Resized/Rarity02s.JPG
There's also no VIN plate on the driver's door. Rich W. clarified this one, saying many 500 series DeLoreans (sounds official :hihi2: ), being pre-production and not intended for sale, didn't have VIN plates there. But hey, it's symmetric!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Rarities/Resized/Rarity03s.JPG
The shifter knob isn't unique to VIN 559, but's still a very early design. I have a picture in my documentation of a parted out early VIN (no clue which one) with the shifter knob visible and identical to mine. It's not the angled kind like on all later D's with the emblem on top; instead it's a curved unit without any emblem whatsoever. Mine has wear and tear that I need to address though (see previous post).

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Rarities/Resized/Rarity04s.JPG
This one's directly due to the low miles: the front fascia has very little warping. For those that don't know, the front fascia warps above the headlights due to the heat. It's 4-6 inches deep and perfectly level, so the heat can't escape. The more you use your headlights, the more it warps. I've considered getting a pair of "angel eye" headlights with an LED ring so I can avoid as much heat as possible from the headlights, but I'm still debating this one. Ohio now has a law that requires headlights to be on whenever you use the wipers, which is why I'd go that route. (It's a car, not a salt block, rain's not big deal really.)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Rarities/Resized/Rarity05s.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Rarities/Resized/Rarity06s.JPG
This is by far the most interesting part of VIN 559 (to me, at least). The driver's side rear window is like every other DeLorean, flush with the stainless, making it aerodynamic. However, move to the passenger side, and the window is quite recessed! It's recessed about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch. The previous owner told me this was done for testing to see what effect (if any) the turbulence caused by the recess would have on the air intake. No one's come forward with documentation or knowledge about this yet though. As this is a two-owner DeLorean, and I'm the second owner, I see no reason to fake this kind of thing. The recess isn't evenly distributed in depth anyways, so it must've had some purpose. Until documentation or knowledge surfaces, this is all [quite educated] speculation.

And last, but not least, this was the very same car that appeared on Pawn Stars. The previous owner, Rick, was the one that appeared in the episode, and he said much of the same stuff as he did in that episode, also describing the experience when I met him in person. Two major gripes about those guys: the incessant BTTF/cocaine references, and fishtailing in the original tires! (Still on the car right now!) I don't care who you are, you just don't screw around with original equipment, especially if it's not your car and you're not even going to make a serious offer on it. It's no wonder I don't watch that show. And yes, I'm keeping those original tires as a memento, but still putting new tires on it for safety reasons.

I mean honestly, they started off at $8,000, and even Rick laughed when he heard that. Then they had the balls to say it was worth only teens in immaculate condition. Dumbasses even stood in the front waiting for him to pop the hood when they asked to see the engine! :hysterical: And yet they claim to know anything about the DeLorean. Then when they finally saw the engine, they called it a mid-engine design.

congerz83

06-02-2012, 10:41 AM

None of your pictures work...

stevedmc

06-02-2012, 11:07 AM

I mean honestly, they started off at $8,000, and even Rick laughed when he heard that.

Rick got free advertising to help sell his car. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Oh, btw. Welcome to the cult.

dvonk

06-02-2012, 08:26 PM

congratulations on your new D! i really like the uniqueness of the early-VIN DeLoreans.

...This one's directly due to the low miles: the front fascia has very little warping. For those that don't know, the front fascia warps above the headlights due to the heat. It's 4-6 inches deep and perfectly level, so the heat can't escape. The more you use your headlights, the more it warps.

the source of the 'eyebrows' has been debated in the past... some have presented evidence that it may be due to insufficient support in the fascia and not due to heat... but its been 15 years since ive laid eyes on a DeLorean, so i couldnt really tell you for sure either way. :lol:

...Then when they finally saw the engine, they called it a mid-engine design.

yeah, i was yelling at the TV when they were making all those stupid comments... im glad the vehicle went to someone who knows & appreciates it! :biggrin:

Shep

06-03-2012, 12:28 AM

None of your pictures work...That's because I'm an idiot and didn't figure out how Dropbox works. Apparently everything needs to be in the "Public" folder to actually be public. And now that I've fixed that, I can't seem to edit my posts. :hmm: Some days...

Anyways, just thought I'd post a teaser as to what's coming next:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Teasers/Teaser01.JPG
This is something I've been working on since 5/26 and finally finished today! Technically yesterday, since it's now after midnight. Just need to compile all the documentation to make another post about it. Honestly, documentation was the longest part of this whole thing, it's just easy as hell really. And to not give too much away, that's all I'm saying. :wink:

By the way, I've never really mentioned this anywhere yet, but my almost-brother-in-law is also a huge fan of DeLoreans. In fact, it's his and my sister's wedding that VIN 559 may make its first public showing. It's quite funny actually, when I was still just looking for a DeLorean, he had the mindset that I'd have one, and it'd be in the family, so there wouldn't be a need for him to get one. When he saw it in my driveway, he suddenly had a change of heart... now he wants one too! :hihi2: We may have two DeLoreans in the family if he realizes his dream. It's sure nice to be able to talk DeLorean with someone who I've known since before I even came close to being able to afford one.

Dangermouse

06-05-2012, 08:37 AM

Thanks for the update, even without the photos.

Oddly, your links just seem to link back to this same thread. maybe I am missing something.

https://photos-1.dropbox.com/si/2048x1536/ep40fkzpsNQWt4NrpbjJrJXJDl4N4EqpNi7ymPccNkU/78099959/1338696000/1d1d60c/Rarity03s.JPG
The shifter knob isn't unique to VIN 559, but's still a very early design. I have a picture in my documentation of a parted out early VIN (no clue which one) with the shifter knob visible and identical to mine. It's not the angled kind like on all later D's with the emblem on top; instead it's a curved unit without any emblem whatsoever. Mine has wear and tear that I need to address though (see previous post).

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10037&d=1336008985

Actually, this isn't as rare as you might think. Mine has it also (2743), but I don't know when they changed to the logo version. I know that DMCH only have the logo version in stock, so it's certainly unobtainable NOS.

https://photos-1.dropbox.com/si/2048x1536/45w1qzDNUbhIPaSjn8s6zj6Nl7mAsiMp6naYVXqAmuc/78099959/1338696000/a566628/Rarity04s.JPG
This one's directly due to the low miles: the front fascia has very little warping. For those that don't know, the front fascia warps above the headlights due to the heat. It's 4-6 inches deep and perfectly level, so the heat can't escape. The more you use your headlights, the more it warps. I've considered getting a pair of "angel eye" headlights with an LED ring so I can avoid as much heat as possible from the headlights, but I'm still debating this one. Ohio now has a law that requires headlights to be on whenever you use the wipers, which is why I'd go that route. (It's a car, not a salt block, rain's not big deal really.)

As dvonk pointed out, this is not necessarily correct. The main area of warpage is over the (rarely used) "brights", rather than the much more used Headlights, (or dipped beams). Cars that live outside tend to have a much better chance of eyebrows that cars stored inside. When the fascia expands in the heat it seems to deflect at the weakest point which seems to be above the "brights". Use of the lights would certainly add to the heat.

There is a common fix of installing a short aluminium bar inside the fascia at this spot to provide some rigidity. My car has wicked eyebrows, yet no functional "brights". Need to fix both items.

If this is the red paint you mentioned, I am not sure that you are aware that they signify that certain recalls were done to the car by dealerships (though I don't remember which ones). Probably completely irrelevant 30 years later, but just thought I'd mention it in case you thought they were just random paint-ball attacks

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10038&d=1336008995

Rich W

06-05-2012, 06:15 PM

tjd

06-05-2012, 06:56 PM

Very cool car EMDF!

I'm a big fan of 500 series cars.

Definately keep in mind what Rich W. is talking about with over restoration on such an early car, it be a shame to loose to much of it's uniqueness of an early example like that by mixing newer parts then what should be the car.

Also just want to concur the paint in the engine compartment if its blotches of red or blue on the fire wall it was done so by a dealership or QAC when a particular recall was performed.

Shep

06-05-2012, 10:37 PM

EMDF,

When working on a 500 series DeLorean, it is important not to "over restore" the car, with many "later car" parts.
The easiest thing to remember is to NOT throw away any old, original parts (to help preserve the car's heritage).

I told this to Dick Sr. as well (back when the car had not run for years, prior to it's recent "restoration" work done).
Hopefully, some of the early parts (removed during that work) came with the car, otherwise they are most likely in
a landfill near Las Vegas now. For example, early fuel pumps had different fittings, and if the fuel system has been
gone over and the fuel pump replaced, it is very possible it has had the fittings updated to the later style fittings.

Other items, such as the early battery cover, did not have the later style fasteners, so this would be an example
of something you would not want to "over restore" with the later style parts, used on most 81's and all 82's, 83's.

Later,
Rich W.Unfortunately, no old parts were kept as far as I know. And I say "as far as I know" because Rick (Jr.) has said that there may be other things Dick (Sr.) had went with VIN 559 prior to him passing away, but he gave me all he had.

As far as the fuel pump, that unfortunately may not be stock pretty soon. It's still not titled in my name officially, since the bastards at the Ohio DMV require an "out of state" inspection on any car titled in another state... which requires the car to be able to drive to the location, regardless of age. DPI Josh will try to squeeze me in to fix it just enough to get it running so I can get it titled, then after DCS 2012 I'll take it back for the remainder of the work that needs to be done (he's booked solid until then). Part of that work is on the fuel system itself, which may or may not include the pump and fittings. But quite frankly, while originality is a goal for me, it is not a strict requirement, and certainly the ability to drive takes precedence over originality any day. If I can't drive it, what's the point in owning it, you know? It doesn't matter what DeLorean I ultimately went with, whatever I bought is going to stay with me until I'm put in a nursing home, at which point it will be passed on to kids, nephews, or nieces, in order of preference (although I have none yet).

The battery cover and fittings on the other hand are perfectly intact. The only problem I have with that part is that the studs are there in the wood, but the fasteners themselves are not. What does that part even look like, might I ask?

Thanks for the info on the red paint guys! I definitely won't be removing it then... it's part of the history!

Doogie

06-05-2012, 11:57 PM

It's still not titled in my name officially, since the bastards at the Ohio DMV require an "out of state" inspection on any car titled in another state... which requires the car to be able to drive to the location, regardless of age. !

When I got 3589 from Paducah, KY last year, it had sat for 25 years, so obviously didn't run. When I got it home, I left it on the trailer so the next day I could take it to the Ohio BMV (In Cincinnati) to have it inspected. Very nice lady came out, looked at the VIN, and went back inside and processed everything. Got my title a few days later iirc.

Doogie

Shep

06-08-2012, 06:52 PM

Pictures should be working good now! :wink:

Actually, it does not have to run to have Ohio inspect it...

When I got 3589 from Paducah, KY last year, it had sat for 25 years, so obviously didn't run. When I got it home, I left it on the trailer so the next day I could take it to the Ohio BMV (In Cincinnati) to have it inspected. Very nice lady came out, looked at the VIN, and went back inside and processed everything. Got my title a few days later iirc.

DoogieThe problem is that the rules for that inspection vary by county, and the lady I talked to for Cuyahoga County (where I live) said it couldn't sit on a trailer, and had to run. Even if this wasn't true, the only access I have to anything that can tow my D is AAA and Hagerty, neither of which would be too pleased with towing it to a title bureau and back home. Josh is waiting on another owner to arrange a drop-off before he comes over to pick mine up on the way back anyways, so it won't be long now. I'll try to talk to him about keeping any original parts, if not for me then for other 500 series owners who want to rebuild it or what have you.

By the way, that teaser I posted a few posts ago will have to wait a bit -- the pictures I have came out quite bad, so I need to take them again.

Shep

06-09-2012, 11:59 PM

The wait for that teaser is up, I just took a picture tonight of the finished result:
10927
Third taillight has been installed, and it looks great! The whole setup cost less than $10 believe it or not. $9.17 to be exact, and that's including $2 admission to the junkyard where I got the taillight. The best part is that if the taillight goes bad for one reason or another, I can just unplug it, get another one for $9.17, and swap it in without having to rewire anything. I'm currently writing a tutorial on how to do it yourself. It's simple as hell really, and it shocks me how complicated everyone makes it. On a side note, I really need to take a look at the wiring for the brake lights and the parking lights... it's just the brake lights that are on, but the parking lights are the only thing that lit up. It worked fine on Pawn Stars, so this must be recent. Might need new boards, but now I have a third taillight to make up for it, so I might leave it. At least it's consistent across sides.

And for us BTTF fans, if you zoom in on the attachment, you can make out the "OUTATIME" license plate I put in there. I had it hanging on my wall, and my DeLorean didn't have a license plate, so I figured I'd spice it up a bit and put it in. And those of you that don't like the whole BTTF thing, know this: if it weren't for me seeing it on TV, I'd have no idea what the hell a DeLorean is, and probably would have zero interest in cars at all, so be glad us young'uns have something to get us interested in the hobby. I'm hoping to have a flux capacitor in there before its first showing by the way, but no guarantees. :shhh:

Shep

06-12-2012, 10:46 PM

Update: today I received a package from DMCH! When I unpacked it, everything had arrived, safe and sound:
10964
Clockwise from top-left: rear-only headliner (dark gray), floor mats (black), stainless steel coolant bottle, door strut (passenger door), and 5 binders that I will be using to sort the mountain of documentation I have with VIN 559. The old strut and the old headliner I will be throwing away (except the headliner clip, which DMCH wants back for refurbishment), but the original coolant bottle I will be keeping. I'd like to keep it in the house somewhere, but we have both one dog and multiple cats, and antifreeze/coolant is a highly dangerous liquid to pets -- to them it tastes sweet, but it's highly poisonous. So I will need to find a place in the garage where no animal can get near it. I would've installed the strut tonight, but it says to use grease, yet neglects to say what kind of grease :hmm: And the rest of the stuff will wait until sometime after DCS 2012 once DPI Josh is done with everything.

DMC5180

06-13-2012, 11:58 AM

Only one strut? Typically you would replace the door struts in pairs. It's your choice not too though. A little dab of wheel bearing or (moly) grease will do the job, but you probably have enough residue left on the ball studs that it will be just fine without adding anymore. You can also use a Q-tip and try to transfer some of the grease from the old Strut ends if you don't have any other handy.

Is the New Headliner board fiberglass or fiberboard. The brown color makes it look like a wood product.

Shep

06-13-2012, 10:51 PM

Only one strut? Typically you would replace the door struts in pairs. It's your choice not too though.Typically yes, but the problem is that the driver's door strut was already replaced recently (before purchase), while the passenger door strut is pretty much shot. The driver's door opens with amazing force after opening it just a few inches, while the passenger door is "neutrally buoyant" about halfway. After inspecting the struts, I noticed they're the same brand, but one has yellow printing and one has blue printing. Since the driver's door strut is still very much good to go, I only need to replace the passenger side. :wink:

A little dab of wheel bearing or (moly) grease will do the job, but you probably have enough residue left on the ball studs that it will be just fine without adding anymore. You can also use a Q-tip and try to transfer some of the grease from the old Strut ends if you don't have any other handy.Thanks for the info! I'll definitely keep that in mind when replacing the strut. :smile:

Is the New Headliner board fiberglass or fiberboard. The brown color makes it look like a wood product.It's actually fiberglass, and I can tell because I see the individual fibers curving every which way. I'm pretty sure it's that color either because it's naturally that color already, or so the color matches perfectly if you mix-n-match old wooden-backed headliners with new fiberglass-backed headliners. I thought it was wood when I first got it too, so I inspected it closer and realized it was fiberglass, exactly as advertised.

Shep

06-15-2012, 11:47 PM

Well now that's odd. I went to replace the strut, and noticed the old one has no clips in it. The holes where it should go are empty, and there's no loose metal around the base of the ball socket. Apparently Dick never put the clips in when he installed it, and it never came out because he barely drove it (much less with passengers). So it really surprised me when I couldn't get it off no matter what I tried. I held the door open 100% up, and even had help doing so, but no amount of hammering with a rubber mallet even got it loose. I whacked the strut hard enough that it actually echoed throughout my neighborhood (I live in an area where loud noises do that), and made me worried I'd break it. I tried hammering both ends, but I can't get close enough to the ball joint itself to get it loose.

I'm tempted to unscrew one of the ball joints and working with it that way, but I'd like to make the process quick and easy. What am I missing here?

(I do have wheel bearing grease by the way, so I'll be using that. Thanks again for the tip!)

Shep

06-24-2012, 12:05 AM

I did a bit of work today on the door and the headliner. I never thought this statement would come out of my mouth (or more accurately, my hands), but I sledgehammered my DeLorean. No, not destructively, just to get the strut off! I tried a rubber mallet, which is what you normally use, but that didn't work. I sprayed PB Blaster on it a couple days ago and again yesterday. I didn't have a rubber mallet handy this time, so I used a regular hammer, and that didn't work. Looking around the garage, I decided to give the sledgehammer a try, and it worked! It's one of those foot-long ones that's basically a normal hammer with a bigger head (which happened to be stainless too :tongue: ). Gave it a few good whacks, and it came right off. I put the new strut on and gave some light taps with the sledgehammer to get it on there nice and solid. I couldn't get the clips on though. Might try later.

And just for a visual comparison, I took pictures both before the replacement (last weekend) and after the replacement (today). Please excuse the horrible mess in my garage, we're planning on adding in a third bay and have nowhere to put that stuff until we do. Note that the door is about six inches (15 cm for you metric guys) higher in the picture than it would stay today. My hammering probably broke a seal somewhere and released some pressure over the past week.

Before:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Fixed%20problem%20areas/Resized/Fixed03as.JPG

After:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Fixed%20problem%20areas/Resized/Fixed03bs.JPG

What a difference! Yes, I'm aware the struts look vastly different across sides. The strut on the left is all black, but the strut on the right has a silver rod, ball sockets, and sticker on it. I'm debating getting another one and trying the same thing just to make it even, but the driver's strut is so powerful now, it just seems like a waste to chuck it. On a side note, I did try to compress the passenger side strut once I took it off, and was still unable to. No wonder door struts only last a few years -- it takes such an amazing amount of force to open the doors due to inherent design, even the slightest loss in pressure can equate to a few lost inches in open door height. Fascinating!

I also did a bit of work on the headliner today. The rear headliner was the original headliner, which is easily identified due to the fact that the wooden backing is basically black (i.e. heavily rotted), and the foam residing between the fabric and the wood was turning into dust and breaking into a million pieces. It's unrecoverable, and I have no reason to keep an unusable headliner considering it blocks half the rear window. The problem is, the front headliner overlaps the rear one, so I can't just pull the rear one out as it needs to be pulled forward to get it off the clip. However, due to limited visibility (much more limited than usual), it had to go. I had other things to do this weekend, so I made a compromise and cut the fabric that was sagging down, leaving the rest of the headliner up there. I know, now it's not original to the 500 series, but keep in mind that the entire rest of the headliner has already been replaced before, and no replaced parts were kept. This is just the last one to go, and I welcome the consistency. I apologize for making some of you cringe reading that, but I will be keeping ALL the fabric from the headliner, including the parts I cut out.

Quite frankly, I'd much rather have the headliner out of the way so I can see a cop's light bar if I get pulled over for forgetting to swap out my OUTATIME license plate for my real one. That'd be a interesting conversation.

Shep

06-27-2012, 06:52 PM

Last night was both scary and exciting at the same time. Scary because I got a speeding ticket on my way home from work. I felt like shit after I got it (anxiety and all), and had to work from home today. Then I realized something: that speeding ticket is God's way of telling me that me driving my DeLorean will be a cop rare-earth magnet, so I better get in the habit of much more, erm, let's say "legal" driving behavior. Half the cops that know what a DeLorean is will be thinking "ooh, Back To The Future car! Better stop him before he reaches 88 MPH!" and the other half will be thinking "a crack bust oughta guarantee a promotion!" Just Monday my Kenwood radio in my daily driver had a short somewhere, and is now flashing "protect", my car's way of telling me that I really should finish installing that amp project I started several months ago. I swear, whenever non-humans want me to know something, they never hint at it, instead they always shove it in my face and yell obscenities at me. :histerical1: Some days...

But about an hour and a half later, DPI Josh arrived to pick 559 up! And hot damn he's young! I never thought the president of the best DeLorean repair shop in the Northwest US would be in his mid-twenties. (Sorry DMCMW, you call yourselves "midwest", so you don't count :wink:) I'm 22 myself, and it amazes me just how much he knows about DeLoreans. He was able to tell me that 559 is "unmolested" and very original, which is VERY good to know for a VIN this early. He also said some of the problems I had pointed out could be repaired rather than replaced (control arms, for example). Almost makes me feel bad for cutting the headliner, except the rest was replaced in the 90's and this one's the last to go.

We tried firing her up, and as I did, I watched the tach move into negative numbers. Josh immediately opened the engine cover and tried fiddling around until the battery lost too much charge to start it. At that point, we pushed it up the driveway and onto the back of his trailer:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Outsourced%20work/Resized/DPI_Departure_2012-06-26s.JPG (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Outsourced%20work/DPI_Departure_2012-06-26.JPG)
(click for full size)

This morning I got an email from him telling me 559 arrived safe and sound! Not only that, but he also attached a picture of VIN 559 safe indoors at DPI. I've never had anyone do that. Talk about the extra mile! Here's the picture:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Outsourced%20work/Resized/DPI_Arrival_2012-06-26s.jpg (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Outsourced%20work/DPI_Arrival_2012-06-26.jpg)
(click for full size)

What a guy! As I told him, it's nice to see VIN 559 finally socializing with its brethren. It's been quite a while, that's for sure. But that knocks so many things off my todo list.

I can't wait to drive it! :giddy:

Delorean Industries

06-27-2012, 09:33 PM

Coming up on 27 quickly...... Better to start as the next generation of Delorean service at a young age as I did. I feel as though I got the hard part out of the way years ago. Getting into this business is anything but easy.

Normally I would never attempt to start a car with a questionable fuel system. Since it had already been tried prior the damage was done at this point. I pulled the remains of the pump boot this morning. Pictures attached.....

Shep

06-27-2012, 11:01 PM

Normally I would never attempt to start a car with a questionable fuel system. Since it had already been tried prior the damage was done at this point.I got it to run last time for about five minutes straight, but considering how rough it ran, there's no question some damage had been done. It needed the work anyways, and had problems from the day it went on the truck from Las Vegas. Less than five thousand miles and zero sta-bil will do that. :rolleyes1: At least it gave me an excuse to have it worked on right off the bat :wink:

I am wondering about that "reverse tachometer" thing. It was quite odd seeing that, but I'm hoping it's just a low battery, I had similar problems with the tach going up to redline and above when the battery died last time. Fingers crossed.

jawn101

06-27-2012, 11:39 PM

I got it to run last time for about five minutes straight, but considering how rough it ran, there's no question some damage had been done. It needed the work anyways, and had problems from the day it went on the truck from Las Vegas. Less than five thousand miles and zero sta-bil will do that. :rolleyes1: At least it gave me an excuse to have it worked on right off the bat :wink:

I am wondering about that "reverse tachometer" thing. It was quite odd seeing that, but I'm hoping it's just a low battery, I had similar problems with the tach going up to redline and above when the battery died last time. Fingers crossed.

Weird tach problems like that are frequently problems with bad grounds. Josh will straighten that out no problem I'm sure :) Cool guy to be sure, and that shop looks great.

Josh, if you're reading this - you should put together a photo tour of your shop and post it up here! I bet we'd all love that, I know I enjoyed Tony's tour of DMCFL. You know, in all your spare time... :)

Delorean Industries

06-28-2012, 10:54 AM

Weird tach problems like that are frequently problems with bad grounds. Josh will straighten that out no problem I'm sure :) Cool guy to be sure, and that shop looks great.

Josh, if you're reading this - you should put together a photo tour of your shop and post it up here! I bet we'd all love that, I know I enjoyed Tony's tour of DMCFL. You know, in all your spare time... :)

We are about to be featured on a multiple TV shows (which is all I can legally say at this time). The shop was in tip top shape with 30+ cars here for the second shoot.

Plus we are finally almost completed with the next set of Gear Head episodes. We started over and filmed the current season from Feb-June15th so the content is current and aligns with the current people involved in the company

jawn101

06-28-2012, 11:30 AM

Iznodmad

06-28-2012, 01:12 PM

Oh, cool. This sounds like a series of projects that will deserve their own thread when you're allowed to talk about them!

Indeed, can't wait to find out about this!

Shep

06-28-2012, 06:45 PM

We are about to be featured on a multiple TV shows (which is all I can legally say at this time). The shop was in tip top shape with 30+ cars here for the second shoot.

Plus we are finally almost completed with the next set of Gear Head episodes. We started over and filmed the current season from Feb-June15th so the content is current and aligns with the current people involved in the companyWow, sweet! If I may ask, are you allowed to mention what VINs are making special appearances? Feel completely free to include 559 as part of that process, she's no stranger to TV cameras, and I'm sure she'll do just fine :tongue:

Are you allowed to say what type of show it is (e.g auto-restoration show, entrepreneur show, interesting businesses show, documentary)? I'll keep my eyes open!

Shep

07-01-2012, 10:33 PM

Well, I have two bits of good news, and two bits of bad news. First the two bits of bad news: the engine needs a major overhaul. When the Volvo dealer worked on both the heads, they didn't put them on properly, which caused the lower cylinder seals to fail. When DPI Josh went to drain the oil, normally it has 7 qts, but instead he filled a 12 qt container and still had about 6 qts left over. Half of this was oil, and the other half was coolant. He said he was shocked it's even run at all in the past few years, and that helps explain why when I got it to run for five minutes in my driveway I needed to give it constant gas.

The second bit of bad news: I now have my first 5-figure repair bill. I bought it for $18,500, but now have about $22,000 in repair bills. Which seems horrible until the first bit of good news: dollar for dollar, that repair bill goes directly to the value! Josh said after it's all fixed up, it'll be worth $40,000 to $45,000, which is $21,500 to $26,500 more than what I bought it for. Hot damn, I've never had an investment go that well (401K aside, of course). Even though I had to loan money from my parents to pay for it in the first place, they said they'll give me another loan until I can pay them back, which is the second bit of good news. By the time it's done, I'll already have five more paychecks, so that'll help offset the cost on both ends.

He also said it won't be back on the road until about two and a half months from now, which, if my math is correct, will be roughly September 16th. At Cruisin' Solon, the very next night after this is Cruiser of the Year Award night, which is where all the winners of the previous nights get placed beside each other and the winner is drawn from there. Sort of a "members only" thing, except with winners from previous nights. This means I won't be premiering it there after all, and honestly, I have no idea where to premiere it, or even how long after I get it back I'll be showing it off. By mid-September, all the good car shows are wrapping up and/or done, so it might not be until a year from now that I show it off. Unless of course, there's a DeLorean get-together somewhere around here.

But the high note of my night was my first-ever ride in a DeLorean! Yes I coasted mine down the street, and drove it around in my driveway, but I've never been in a running DeLorean on the road before! I've seen five or six of them before today, but only been inside two: mine, and Josh's. He drove me around the block. What an experience! :biggrin: I was enthralled by the whole thing, taking everything in and learning while he's pointing things out. I'm glad I did too: He demonstrated braking distance, which has me really thinking of getting a brake upgrade while it's in there, with (at the very least) cross-drilled rotors to make stopping that much better. I've never been in a car that needed that much distance to stop, and let's just say much of my route requires good braking power. I've been in my fair share of close calls from guys stopping suddenly or pulling out in front of me as recently as Friday, and if the brakes are inadequate, that won't end well.

Delorean Industries

07-01-2012, 11:22 PM

Shep

07-16-2012, 09:15 PM

The plot thickens! I've been talking with DMCH James about my rear window (the recessed one said to be wind tunnel testing), and he says there's no documentation about that window. He also says he is "fairly certain" it was not like that when it was there. The problem is, if my service records are indeed 100% complete, 559 was never at any DMC facility. Yet it's clearly visible from its appearance on Pawn Stars.

What the hell is the story behind this thing? :confused0:

It's definitely intentional, but the question is who's intention was it? Assuming it's not factory, my running theory now is that the rear window separated from the stainless, whereupon it was given a DIY fix of residential window putty. Alternatively, the window broke, a replacement was ordered, and it was installed DIY. In any case, he told me 559 was an employee car, but he wasn't sure who it was given to. I told him I have records from Chestnut Fleet Rentals giving the title to the original owner (listing the full VIN even!), who worked for them at the time. I'm thinking this might be why it's called an "employee" car, just a CFR employee instead of a DMC one. Of course, if this isn't the employee referenced, then that would explain the 700+ miles on the odometer prior to the original owner's purchase. The problem then would become finding this employee when there seems to be no record of who it was, or if it was even a specific employee (as opposed to a generic company car).

Regardless, I was planning on going to DPI tomorrow to check up in 559. Problem is, things are so haphazard now, I may not be able to get up there. I'm having DeLorean Withdrawl, it's been too long since I've seen her last. If I could just place my hand on her again... *sigh* I can't wait to get her back in my garage :frown:

Shep

07-28-2012, 01:15 AM

I saw VIN 559 today! :giddy:

Okay, technically it was yesterday since it's after midnight, but damn did I need to see her again. The odd thing is that I had a completely different party this time. Last/first time it was my parents that went with me. This time it was my family from Florida and Texas, both up here for the wedding. Couldn't fit six in the car, or my dad would've went too.

It was a very last-minute thing, actually. I saw the DPI truck headed north on I-271 at around noon today, and I knew I just had to see 559 again. When I got home, I called them up, and Josh told me he would be handing a bunch of original parts off to me. Sweet! I ate lunch and drove right up there, taking the headliner and stainless steel coolant bottle I had acquired back when I thought I would be fixing both.

I walked in, and there she was!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120727%20-%20June%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progress/Resized/DPIProgress01s.JPG

That alone made the whole trip very much worth it :biggrin: No wheels, no engine, reminded me of that scene from Back To The Future Part II where they hover and land in that alley in the rain. Well, almost, the engine was resting to its left.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120727%20-%20June%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progress/Resized/DPIProgress02s.JPG

Thankfully, it looks like it should be able to retain the original engine! Yes, the green stuff is coolant. At least there was some unmixed coolant in the system. While I was at it, I got a picture of the engine number.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120727%20-%20June%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progress/Resized/DPIProgress03s.JPG

So VIN 559 has engine number 477 and frame number 98! I snapped a picture of the frame number while I was at it, since I missed it last time. I forgot to take a picture of the VIN plate and look for Cave Paintings in the inner fenders like I had planned on since I forgot the ToDo list, but I remembered the parts and to document the engine and frame numbers! Frame number pictured:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120727%20-%20June%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progress/Resized/DPIProgress04s.JPG

Then Josh informed me all those parts I had walked past were mine, freshly plated and ready to go! I dropped off my headliner and coolant bottle with the rest of it.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120727%20-%20June%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progress/Resized/DPIProgress05s.JPG

One of the front wheels had imperfections in it so it was sent back to be redone, hence there being only three wheels. And when I turned around, even more parts that needed to be plated!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120727%20-%20June%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progress/Resized/DPIProgress06s.JPG

Among some parts are the springs, exhaust heat shield, engine valve covers, pulleys, brackets, and the like. Looks like they were sandblasted, but I'm not quite sure. Seemed done to the untrained eye, but the springs gave it away that it's just bare metal and not already coated with anything. Then came the fun part: loading parts in the trunk of our Explorer! There was a crate of parts that was filled just below halfway.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120727%20-%20June%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progress/Resized/DPIProgress07s.JPG

Closer look:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120727%20-%20June%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progress/Resized/DPIProgress08s.JPG

Among some of the parts there:
- distributor cap
- yellow coolant bottle
- door weatherstripping seals
- a crapload of rubber pipes
- engine mounts (stained my shirt, but it's the first DeLorean stain I've gotten on the first DeLorean shirt I've gotten, so I hope it stays!)
- Intake manifolds. Or exhaust manifolds. Honestly I'm not familiar with the visible difference between the two, but I'm thinking intake.
- some plastic part that held the condenser or radiator or bumper or something like that. It cracked, so it had to be replaced.
- radiator (not sure if it's broken or just worn, but I have it now).
- and the part I identify most with, the silver intake hose! When I bought 559 and popped the louvers for the first time (heh, I rhymed :tongue: ), this part stuck out the most to me as the most interesting part, and I was fascinated by it. I know it's just a hose, but something about the looks or function or something like that makes this the first DeLorean part to go on my car wall! :wink:

When I got there, I just had to lay a hand on the stainless. The opportunity didn't present itself without awkwardness until my aunt (who previously knew nothing about DeLoreans, but is now fascinated!) asked if it was painted, to which I replied "nope, bare stainless" and patted my hand on the LFF (left-front fender). It had been in the sunlight, so the LFF was warm to the touch. I think I even heard her smile :tongue: And no one suspected a thing :hihi2:

Progress is sweet! (Even though technically it's not my progress...)

Iznodmad

07-28-2012, 10:35 AM

I can't quite tell by the pic, so I'll just ask you. Regarding the wheels, are you staying with the original dark gray finish on the wheels or not?

Shep

07-28-2012, 11:36 PM

I can't quite tell by the pic, so I'll just ask you. Regarding the wheels, are you staying with the original dark gray finish on the wheels or not?Looking at the pictures, they wheels are lighter than I remember them, but keep in mind that I had never washed nor even rinsed them off in any way, plus this was the first time I saw them under florescent lighting. That being said, I didn't notice anything peculiar about the color when I was there. DPI Josh knows we're going almost all original/correct with VIN 559 (safety upgrades notwithstanding), so it's a safe bet that the final product will be dark gray.

The wedding is officially over by the way. The ceremony was all fine and dandy, but that's when things just... honestly, I'm forcing myself to be EXTREMELY diplomatic here, but there were quite a few things that were not even CLOSE to up to par with what I have come to expect from them. It shall suffice to say that except for pictures (I was the man of honor), I refused further involvement with the wedding/groom/bridal party. I'm not naming names, but I wasn't the only one in the wedding/groom/bridal party who felt that way (but I was the only one who actually did anything about it). Started off fine like I said, but after the ceremony itself was when it turned into a shitfest.

While I am truly appalled by what happened, it wasn't the newlyweds' fault, so I'm not going into details here. But they certainly didn't do a damn thing to stop it. Now I know why everyone calls me a "little old man" even though I'm 22 -- any sense of moral decency apparently makes you a senior citizen, even though the five of us that went home together talked for over an hour on the same subjects and expressed the same exact viewpoint, none of us actually seniors and some younger than I am. This one's going to brew for a while, and the next time they mention it, I won't be able to hold back. And the sad part is that it's all extremely justified.

Shep

08-05-2012, 05:14 PM

Changing gears to a more positive subject, I finally scanned in one of the documents that came with VIN 559! It's a letter from Chestnut Fleet Rentals, listing the full VIN, purchase price, purchase date, and original owner. I know it's the original letter since it is a tan-colored, textured paper folded in three, signed with blue ink, and has two color-matching envelopes (why two I'm not entirely sure however). Some of the green tape that was on one of the envelopes finally came off completely. It was half-off last time, but sliding it on my scanner's glass, it pulled it off. Not a big deal, it didn't rip anything, but you can see where it used to be. Those envelopes were flipped over in place, so they stayed on their respective sides when viewing the back (the one with the red sticker on the front also has green tape on the back).

Enough yammering, link is here (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Documents/CFR%20Letter.pdf)!

I keep forgetting to mention this, but due to my incessant use of the phrase "VIN 559" in this thread, and the previous extreme rarity of its use prior to my making this thread, I quickly got Google's #1 result for "VIN 559" (before I reached page two if I recall correctly). Try it! At this point, every single thread I've ever posted in now shows up on Google since my sidebar reads "My VIN: 559". Since the forums require four character search terms, this isn't very helpful when you're looking for VIN 559 info :hysterical:

On a side note, now that the wedding is behind us, I'm thinking of starting a website for VIN 559. I noticed some of you guys have websites for your D's, which got me thinking. I already have a design in mind; it's just a matter of deciding what to code it in (i.e. do I learn PHP, use the already-very-familiar ASP.NET, or handle an incessant mess of HTML files?), what host to go with, and (obviously) if I would even bother with a website. Personally, I think it would stave off the DeLorean Withdrawal even longer knowing I'm still working with VIN 559 in some way, but I'm having trouble figuring out if it'll be worth it. Anyone have any thoughts on this one? :confused0:

Domi

08-05-2012, 05:23 PM

This letter is an interesting part of the history of your car, thanks for sharing with us :)
Your own website would be awesome but I guess it is a lot of work, unless you have a design which is already done like we can see it on the web now.
Build everything on your own is something else!

Shep

08-05-2012, 06:05 PM

This letter is an interesting part of the history of your car, thanks for sharing with us :)You're welcome! It's the first page in my DMC binder that will be displayed whenever I display 559. I figured I'd digitize it and share it with everyone now since I won't be able to show it off until at least mid-September. Glad you like it! :smile:

Your own website would be awesome but I guess it is a lot of work, unless you have a design which is already done like we can see it on the web now.
Build everything on your own is something else!That's part of the equation. I am very well versed in anything programming-related, but I haven't truly designed a site from scratch. I've only built off of existing designs so far. On the other hand, PHP is one of the few languages I don't know yet, so I'd like to pick it up at some point, and this may be a good opportunity to do so. Decisions, decisions...

Domi

08-06-2012, 03:10 PM

Sure, if you already have some skills in programming, then do you own website, it will be a lot of fun :smile: (and time)
And you'll learn new things which is always good.
If I had the ability, I would love to work on mine, but I have to learn all the basic in Html, Css, etc...

jawn101

08-06-2012, 04:52 PM

You can do it quite easily with a generated site using something like Rapidweaver, or using Wordpress (I did my DMC log using Wordpress since it was easy to deploy and simple to update from my iPhone) - http://www.8bitdmc.com

Shep

08-06-2012, 10:27 PM

Thanks for the encouragement guys! You've convinced me to make my own website! :wink:

I'd prefer to make my own design instead of using a pre-built one. This would allow me to tweak it exactly to my liking until I'm 100% satisfied. Plus I can build in some database functionality (I'm thinking of adding sightings of my D, among other things), which I may not be able to do with any pre-built system. Makes more sense than maintaining an increasingly large list and worrying about accidental deletions.

So now, sometime in the next few months, I'm hoping to finish VIN 559's first website! Stay tuned! :biggrin:

(On a side note, I am not aware of any other 500 series VIN that has its own website. :confused2: Would this be the first?)

Rich W

08-07-2012, 12:30 PM

(On a side note, I am not aware of any other 500 series VIN that has its own website. :confused2: Would this be the first?)

This one has been under contruction for a while ... no completion date estimated yet:

http://earlydeloreans.com/

Somewhat related, this one has been under contruction for a while too ... no completion date estimated yet:

http://deloreanfactory.com/

Later,
Rich W.

Domi

08-07-2012, 02:57 PM

Can't wait to see VIN559 website :thumbup2:

Shep

08-07-2012, 10:22 PM

This one has been under contruction for a while ... no completion date estimated yet:

http://earlydeloreans.com/

Somewhat related, this one has been under contruction for a while too ... no completion date estimated yet:

http://deloreanfactory.com/

Later,
Rich W.Unless I'm missing something, the first one is for early DeLoreans in general, not a specific VIN. What I meant was a website dedicated to a specific VIN in the 500 series. As far as I know, this has yet to be done. By all means, correct me if I'm wrong though, I'd love to see another website dedicated to a 500 series D.

I'm working on learning the PHP now. Once I have a template, I'll work on the individual pages, and hopefully I'll have some usable (if temporary) pictures of 559 by then. Can't wait to finish it! :biggrin:

Rich W

08-08-2012, 03:58 PM

The Early DeLoreans website will include Proto1, through the Pilot Cars, and through many of the xxx series early production DeLoreans,
with a page or more, specific to each VIN, detailing similarities and differences between comparable VIN ranges, such as 500 the series.

As for the name of the website, you are correct, it will not be named: www.VINxxx.com (and it will not contain only one 500 series car).

As for VIN...559, below are a few photos taken back in January 2007, when Dick still had the car in his garage in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Later,
Rich W.

12407

12408

12409

12410

Don Camillo

08-08-2012, 04:20 PM

Great threat, looking forward to read more about VIN 559. :race:

Best wishes
Don

dvonk

08-08-2012, 10:08 PM

EMDF, i just realized i also have photos of 00559 from when it was listed on ebay in March of 2007. i dont know if you have them already, but if you want them, PM me your email address and i can send them to you. :smile:

Shep

08-08-2012, 11:01 PM

12410 :jawdrop:

There may be truth to this wind tunnel story yet! I got an email from a buddy of yours today who saw it with you then, and from what he said, the glass wasn't recessed (I may have misunderstood him though). Now I know this dates back to at least 2007. The mystery continues!

EMDF, i just realized i also have photos of 00559 from when it was listed on ebay in March of 2007. i dont know if you have them already, but if you want them, PM me your email address and i can send them to you. :smile:I don't have those pictures, actually. I have some from when he listed it in December of 2006 here (http://www.carpictures.com/vehicle/06LIG325813033/Delorean-DMC-12-1981), but I was not aware he put it on eBay. PM sent :wink:

dvonk

08-08-2012, 11:33 PM

I don't have those pictures, actually. I have some from when he listed it in December of 2006 here (http://www.carpictures.com/vehicle/06LIG325813033/Delorean-DMC-12-1981), but I was not aware he put it on eBay. PM sent :wink:

haha, i just sent you an email with those same photos. oops, i guess i shouldve checked the thread first. :lol:

but yeah, he did have it on ebay. :)

Rich W

08-09-2012, 12:40 PM

:jawdrop:

There may be truth to this wind tunnel story yet! I got an email from a buddy of yours today who saw it with you then, and from what he said, the glass wasn't recessed (I may have misunderstood him though). Now I know this dates back to at least 2007. The mystery continues!

Yes, you misunderstood.

Actually, it is the exact opposite. After spending literally hours with Dick Rutter (great guy, btw), there was absolutely no discussion regarding
wind tunnel testing, however, it was mentioned that the rear passenger quarter glass was not the original, early style glass and it was most likely
replaced due to damage at some point by a non-DeLorean repair shop or glass shop. This myth must have been born after January 2007.

Below are some additional notes that I made while viewing the VIN...559 back in 2007.

Later,
Rich W.

Some Notes on VIN...559:

- Later style windshield with no built in antenna. Non-DMC rearview mirror

- Non-factory (and non-QAC) installed RF fender antenna (hole will require fill)

- Extra holes drilled into the underside of front hood (8 holes total)
(4 quarter-size or 1" holes along edges, 4 larger 3" holes in the X)

- Stainless work will include repairs and refinishing to the bonnet and roof

- No VIN plate on driver side door sill, only has vin plate on the dashboard

- Early driver side door noted (which is appropriate for the early VIN)

- Passenger door is later style, incorrect for the VIN (replaced in 81/82?)

- The door locks are single key system, should be the 2-key, early style

- Later style ash tray installed. Very early cars had a “textured” style

- Frame number: 98. Frames were not used sequentially (correct vintage)

- Fiberglass rear pontoons are made of textured material (correct vintage)

- Later style rear passenger quarter glass (not early style, replacement?)

- Later style rear louver with thicker spine (early louvers had thin spine)

- Car was not started, run or driven, so no drive system details recorded

- Mechanical repairs may include fuel system, brakes, TAB check, etc.

- Electrical work may include window motors, relay update kit, etc.

Shep

08-09-2012, 08:30 PM

Yes, you misunderstood.

Actually, it is the exact opposite. After spending literally hours with Dick Rutter (great guy, btw), there was absolutely no discussion regarding
wind tunnel testing, however, it was mentioned that the rear passenger quarter glass was not the original, early style glass and it was most likely
replaced due to damage at some point by a non-DeLorean repair shop or glass shop. This myth must have been born after January 2007.Well that was short lived :hihi2: But at last the mystery is solved! Now it's confirmed: VIN 559 was NOT used in wind tunnel testing as originally thought. (Made one hell of a story though!)

Looks like the only mystery yet to be solved (that I am aware of anyways) are the holes in the hood.

Below are some additional notes that I made while viewing the VIN...559 back in 2007.I was provided with a very similar list from that friend of yours I have been corresponding with. As I told him, the louvers seem to have been replaced since then; they no longer have the wide spline. In fact, when I was installing the third taillight, I centered it by making one line on masking tape. Obviously this part is not original, but it is at least correct (unless there's other differences in the louvers I'm unaware of... wider as in left-to-right, right?). Everything else still holds true as far as I know.

One thing in particular though caught my attention:

- Extra holes drilled into the underside of front hood (8 holes total)
(4 quarter-size or 1" holes along edges, 4 larger 3" holes in the X)I couldn't figure out where these holes were. I looked through the pictures I had, and didn't see anything. Then I came across this one I took at DPI back on July 1st:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Rarities/Resized/Rarity07s.JPG (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Rarities/Rarity07.JPG)
(click for full size)

I remember them now! I even stuck my finger in the bottom-right one seen in the picture above. Interesting how the bottom one is open and the top one is capped off. I wonder what the story behind this one is. :confused0:

By any chance, did Dick tell you the story behind these?

EDIT:
Actually, I just realized you attached a picture including the holes a few posts up:
12409

And I just remembered that you mentioned hood light wiring.

haha, i just sent you an email with those same photos. oops, i guess i shouldve checked the thread first. :lol:

but yeah, he did have it on ebay. :)Thanks! Only some of the exterior shots are the same. Except for the one with that guy's reflection in the window... perhaps Dick himself? Seems to be the right age. All the interior/trunk/engine/wheel shots I do not have. Definitely the only picture I've seen posted by Dick himself that shows the hood plugs and the passenger-side trunk hole plug.

For anyone that wants to see these pictures, go here (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3xl1xbossfps0x6/x2PXRZ4zFm), then go to [[ VIN 559 --> Pictures --> eBay Listing from 2007 ]]. This way gives you a thumbnail viewing of all the images, which I don't think I have the public link to (Dropbox is installed on my computer, which generates mostly private links unless explicitly stated otherwise). The one with the guy in it is fourth-to-last, a shot taken from right behind the passenger door of the roof and window. You'll see it. :wink:

EDIT 2:
The letter I was referencing above, listing much of what Rich W stated prior, can be found here (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Documents/Letter%20to%20Dick%20Rutter.pdf).

Shep

08-19-2012, 11:18 PM

Still haven't seen 559 at DPI since the day before the wedding. For some reason I'm not going through withdrawal like I was last time. Maybe it's those original parts I have sitting in my garage. Anyways, next weekend I'll see if I can make a trip up there. Not sure if he's open Saturdays though. Still haven't gotten him to answer me on whether or not the louver struts were really necessary to replace. I don't want new ones if the old ones had plenty of life left in them.

ANYways, I do have a massive update! Severely lacking in pictures unfortunately, but some things just don't have pictures. Weird, I know. First, yesterday I went to see this guy (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4795-New-member!-Can-you-ID-these-parts) to pick up a part. It's going to be my first part from a donor D thus far! I got myself a jack compartment cover. I never realized that was missing until I saw that post, so I got in touch and went over to his house. He's got this sweet '57 Studebaker in his driveway he's working on. We headed to his backyard, and sitting there I saw complete and undamaged louvers (looked like the early thin-rib kind), two or four engine cover vents, and viola, the cover! I gave him $30 for it, unsuccessfully tried to ID a part that he said he did not know the origin of (i.e. may not be a DeLorean part), then parted ways. It's now sitting with the rest of my DeLorean parts, waiting for 559 to stroll into the garage in about a month for me to put 'er on.

Later that day, I finally got PHP up and running. Took forever to figure out what I was doing wrong, but everything is running smoothly now! I spent part of yesterday and some of today finishing up the proof-of-concept design for the new website. I know exactly what it's going to look like when it's done, and it'll be unique, I can guarantee that. But yes, it'll rely on tables to do the design work (which isn't actually a bad thing, as W3 has stated themselves). Here's a couple pictures:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Website%20progress/2012-08-19_01.png
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Website%20progress/2012-08-19_02.png
No giveaways as to what kind of images I'll be using, but I will say that everything except for the text "[Variable-width dynamic content]" is stored away in a file named "headerfooter.php", so this design will be 100% consistent throughout the entire site. The dynamic part is named "template.php" for now, which exists purely for prototyping and won't exist in the finalized product.

But the biggest news comes from a half-hour-long phone call with Tony Swann, owner of VINs 520, 562, and 583, among others. 562 is the closest to my VIN that I have seen thus far! Anyways, he gave me some history on Chestnut Fleet Rentals (CFR) and of 559. Very informative phone call. Basically, CFR bought several DeLoreans (wasn't sure of the exact number, but 20-100 if I recall reading correctly), then leased them back to DMC. The deal was that DMC would give them monthly payments for these leased DeLoreans, and DMC used them for company cars. Mine was labeled as "unassigned", and probably didn't see much road use if it had 750 miles when the original owner purchased it (from what the son said; Tony and Dick didn't discuss this, but records seem to support this number). CFR made copies of the original documentation, so Tony said that he *may* have 559's "birth certificate"! :biggrin: Here's the problem: DMC never made any monthly payments. Then when they went bankrupt and later into receivership, CFR never got a dime of it. They fought legal battles just to get the cars back, since it was obvious the funds were never going to resurface. That's where it all starts coming together.

In order to get the cars back, CFR had to store them all in facilities, indoors or outdoors, and get the parts needed to get them back up and running. Outdoor storage would explain the broken glass that later led to the "wind tunnel" theory (i.e. caused by vandals). Unfortunately, this was also around the time that Consolidated International seized all the parts, so this wasn't an easy task. Many later D's were scavenged just for this effort, which explains why for example the entire passenger door was replaced with a later version, and why many parts do not belong to 559. Then they got them titled and were able to sell them off. So that previously-posted list of parts that were incorrect to 559 is probably chock-full of things CFR did just to sell it, and has nothing to do with Dick. With this in mind, I now definitely have no intention to restore it to 100% 500-series condition -- it's part of the history!

Jacko

08-20-2012, 07:49 PM

Regardless, I was planning on going to DPI tomorrow to check up in 559. Problem is, things are so haphazard now, I may not be able to get up there. I'm having DeLorean Withdrawl, it's been too long since I've seen her last. If I could just place my hand on her again... *sigh* I can't wait to get her back in my garage :frown:EMDF, those are my sentiments exactly. I have had Delorean Withdrawal ever since 4915 was loaded on the truck for the trip to DPI ... my hands are shaking ... can't sleep ...

If you go over there I wish you'd take some pictures of 4915 so I can see her torn apart (if it's okay with Josh).

I need to know she's ok.

Shep

08-20-2012, 08:26 PM

Tony got back to me, and he has 559's birth certificate! :giddy: Here's the link [link (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Documents/Certificate%20of%20Origin.pdf)] (Courtesy of the Tony Swann Collection)

In regards to the May 7th date, Tony stated "DeLorean struck the deal with Chestnut on May 1, 1981 and finalized it on about June 24, 1981. So during this time, DeLorean had to get all the paperwork in order for these cars that were already over here in the US. Lease payment were supposed to begin starting July 1, 1981. Most likely, 559 was brought to the US in March or April of 1981." Fascinating! And now I can prove 559 is purebred American :biggrin:

EMDF, those are my sentiments exactly. I have had Delorean Withdrawal ever since 4915 was loaded on the truck for the trip to DPI ... my hands are shaking ... can't sleep ...

If you go over there I wish you'd take some pictures of 4915 so I can see her torn apart (if it's okay with Josh).

I need to know she's ok.Absolutely! I have to remember to take a picture of my VIN plate while I'm there, so I'll add this to the list. Yours was right next to mine. If I forget, try emailing Josh and asking for a picture. He took one of 559 when it arrived at DPI, so I wouldn't think it would be unreasonable for him to send you a status update picture.

I looked through my uncle's pictures from when we were there on Friday, 7/27/2012, and I came across one where your is clearly visible. I know it's almost a full month ago, but at least it's something. Here's what I found:
1268912688
In the first one, you can see mine (rear fascia and drivetrain missing) and yours directly to the right, license plate "NT GLTY". My uncle got a kick out of the license plate, and I don't think he's aware of JZD's trial. Anyways, in the second picture, you can see yours on the top row, roughly center, second from the left (with the washed-out white license plate).

I'll add taking a picture of your D to my list of things to do when I get there. Hopefully I actually reference the list this time around (I was in a rush last time, rehearsal dinner and all).

Shep

08-25-2012, 09:36 AM

Well, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news: the site design is coming along very well! The content will come later, but I have nearly finished the graphical portion of it! It's coming out better than expected, but it's not quite presentable yet. (The top-right corner needs tweaking, and I need a floating menu of sorts at the top.) Hopefully this coming week I'll be far enough along to present it! I will admit that I'm borrowing a picture from the wallpaper section of the DMCH website, but this is only because VIN 559 is still not drivable, and not back yet. Once I get it back, I'll take a similar picture myself, and replace the DMCH photo with it. It's a temporary mock-up to better visualize everything, and will be tweaked later to accommodate the change. It's just a matter of where to take it... On a side note, I may want to scale things down a bit. The top border is quite tall, and the bottom border is quite wide. That's something I'll probably do when I get a picture of VIN 559 to use.

Anyways, now the bad news: Josh is out of town until Monday morning, so I won't be able to visit 559 until next weekend or Monday (Labor day). I can't get a day off from work this week, so it'll have to wait until then. Jack, I let Josh know that you wanted pictures and to send them your way. As he's out of town, he'll likely get them back to you sometime in the coming week. Let me know via PM if and when he does. If I don't hear back by the time I visit next weekend, I'll assume he hasn't taken them yet and will take them myself. I haven't crossed it off my list yet :wink:

And on a a completely different note, I still have all the DeLorean-related articles/comics/ads that came with 559 to go through, plus the Jump Start comic from two Sundays ago. I haven't even started putting them in Binder #3 (#1 is historical documentation, #2 is service records; #3, #4, and #5 are currently empty, although #4 will have photos). That will be a long process, but at the very least I'll be able to further empty out the currently 1" thick folder that came with VIN 559. Most of the remainder is government documentations (E-Check, title changes, license plate updates, address updates, registration, etc.) which frankly I don't want to display for privacy and "who cares" reasons. I'm pretty sure spectators looking through my documents are going to lose interest when they see all those documents. It's not exactly interesting to see that "oh wow, it was registered". At least not to me, maybe if I get some comments about it I'll include censored versions.

Domi

08-25-2012, 04:15 PM

Can't wait to see your website :wink:
I'm impressed you've already done so many parts on it!

Shep

08-27-2012, 10:57 PM

I finally got the site presentable! Pictures only for now; it's still only on my laptop. Next step: integrating the database! I'm holding off the menu for now since I'm not sure what all is going to go on there, and I'm changing the background image when I have one available (so the design would be redone anyways; no point reinventing the wheel).

Skinnier/taller:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Website%20progress/2012-08-27_01.png

Wider/shorter:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Website%20progress/2012-08-27_02.png

It basically works exactly like these forums do -- make your browser window thinner horizontally and the content wraps more and the page gets longer. Expand it horizontally and the content wraps less and the page gets shorter.

Recognize that background picture? Currently it's a template of this wallpaper (http://delorean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/05-09_wall-1600-p.jpg) on the DMCH site, but again, once I get pictures of VIN 559 to use, that will be no longer. It's purely a temporary placeholder. Hopefully DMCH doesn't mind for now; that design won't be publicized until I am able to create a suitable replacement background. Most likely I'll use a different interim design that's much more basic while I await VIN 559's return. And since the doors are quite large on this page, I'm also debating a shot taken standing in front of VIN 559 holding the camera up as far as I can reach. That would create a less vertical angle and should make the doors shorter top-to-bottom, also showing more of the front grille. And most definitely, the photoshop job will be much better this time around. This was a quick-n-dirty photoshop purely for mockups.

Delorean Industries

09-08-2012, 10:55 AM

Sneak peak for those following. Mike is on his way down currently. Here is a shot of about 50% of the components for the 559 overhaul. Enjoy!

ccurzio

09-08-2012, 12:27 PM

I can't wait to get my car into your shop one day, Josh.

Domi

09-08-2012, 03:49 PM

Nice parts!

Shep

09-08-2012, 11:16 PM

Thanks for the picture Josh! I didn't get everything in one shot, so I'm glad you did!

On the right side of Josh's picture are the Kumho tires (I keep calling it "kuhmo"; gotta remember the right way to say it) mounted on the dark gray wheels. Cooper was another option, but I've had terrible experience with them on my daily driver Civic, so they've lost me as a customer. They squeal when dry, skid when wet, and are loud to boot, even though Cooper ranked them highest in every category. The generic "economy" tires I had before them were much better quite honestly. I haven't tried Kumho yet, so hopefully they're a much better product. To be perfectly honest, I'm putting them on my DeLorean to see how I like them, and if all goes well, I'll put them on my Civic too. So I'm making my DeLorean a test mule (har har, get it? 500 series... test mule... I know, bad joke).

Anyways, we went over some "action items" to be done while everything was apart. Included in that was painting (plating?) the coolant lines to help prevent corrosion, taking the entire body off to fix epoxy issues on the frame, repainting the fiberglass underbody (keeping the red recall paint), suspension components, battery cables, and a few other things here and there. I opted to stay with the original muffler since it fits and functions fine (Josh said he'll "clean it up" though).

I evidently didn't post this in the thread yet, but today I decided to go with DPI's performance camshafts. The reason I didn't want any SPEC or Stage upgrades was because it's evident from the outside that it's been changed. Perhaps in the future this will change, but I had a realization a few weeks ago: there's performance camshafts for DeLoreans, and that's the one upgrade I can do that is 100% hidden. I know it's a negative stereotype of DeLoreans that they're allegedly "slow and heavy", but here's my concern: the DeLorean's 2.8L V6 has 130 HP and gets 18 MPG. My daily driver Civic has a 1.7L L4 with 127 HP and gets 30 MPG. Two less cylinders, 1.1 liters smaller, three less horsepower, and twelve more miles per gallon. Much, much smaller but negligible power difference (if any, considering DMC rounded) and nearly twice as fuel efficient. But the DeLorean's heavier than my Civic, so on a drag strip, my Civic would still beat a stock D. Naturally camshafts that give it 65 more HP (totaling 195 HP) is an obvious choice.

And now for some pictures! (Unfortunately, no pictures of your D, Jack. I got so caught up with everything to address with my D that I barely remembered to take a picture of my VIN plate. I did see yours there, and it was certainly doing very well, but I quickly got distracted. Sorry about that :frown: )

First, a rear 3/4 view of 559:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120908%20-%20September%2008%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progression/Resized/DPIProgression01s.JPG (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120908%20-%20September%2008%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progression/DPIProgression01.JPG)
It's in a very similar shape as last visit, except it's on "rolling wheels" (i.e. not mine -- note the light silver wheels; mine are dark gray and in the main lobby, on the right in the picture Josh posted above). The driver's side-view mirror is folded in currently. Didn't notice it until I was home and looked at the pictures. The driver's window evidently didn't stay up long enough for the repair, although Josh did say I was, erm, "creative" in my door disassembly process. Service manual isn't exactly helpful without pictures, so I winged most of it, which I will refrain from doing again until I find out the proper procedure for the job. There were multiple parts where I knew it wasn't the right way to do it (grab handle removal, for example -- long-ass screwdriver and panel twisting surely isn't "proper"), but I couldn't figure out what the right way was, and none of the literature was helpful.

By the way, the guy with the 70's rowboating shirt is my Dad, and the guy in the dark blue shirt is my new brother-in-law (the DeLorean fanatic! :approve: )

Next up, a front 3/4 shot of 559:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120908%20-%20September%2008%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progression/Resized/DPIProgression02s.JPG (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120908%20-%20September%2008%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progression/DPIProgression02.JPG)
Frankly, this is one of the best shots I've ever taken of 559. I think I'll send this one off to PJ Grady UK for their 500 series page :wiggle:

And then I found my rear fascia right by the door:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120908%20-%20September%2008%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progression/Resized/DPIProgression03s.JPG (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120908%20-%20September%2008%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progression/DPIProgression03.JPG)
I know it's mine for 3 reasons: 1) holder with no plate, 2) no stainless steel bumper letters (the one next to 559 in the first picture above had them), and 3) when I sent 559 off, I screwed in the license plate holder screws in a manner so they would not come out, but could still easily be taken out by hand, and that's exactly the way they were for this rear fascia (visible in the high-res; click the above image for full-size). I don't know if the clip sticking out on the right-hand side but not the left-hand side is normal or not, but I recognize that too. The left one broke off, which means I can slide the license plate in and out easily, useful for the OUTATIME plate I have laying around.

And here's a picture of the VIN plate, in case anyone's wondering what a 500-series dash plate looks like:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120908%20-%20September%2008%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progression/Resized/VINs.JPG (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/120908%20-%20September%2008%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Progression/VIN.JPG)
Transcribed: SCEDT26T8BD000559 (I almost have that whole thing memorized! :biggrin: ). This is one of those rare cases where a picture of mine looks much better in a smaller size than high-res. You can click for full size, but just be aware that there's not much detail to miss -- evidently my camera decided to focus on the dust on my windshield rather than the VIN plate, so the VIN plate itself is somewhat blurry. But feel free; I cropped it to reduce filesize (and make it less distracting). Now to submit this picture to the TXDMC club for their collection!

But none of this was the best part of this visit. I knew this was planned from previous talks with Josh, but completely forgot about it until we did it: I drove my first DeLorean! :giddy: Josh breaks in drivetrains with 1,000 miles once rebuilt by putting them on one of his own D's and driving it back and forth to Youngstown ten times; about 100 miles round-trip. This particular one was at about 985 miles if I recall correctly, so he let me drive it around the block! Naturally I took it VERY easy since it was not my car and I had never driven one before. Almost reminded me of my first drive in my first car in the sense that I was taking the gas and the brakes very easy. Most of the way I was doing 5-10 below (speed limit was 35 by the way), and took much ground to slow down, just to be safe. When I get 559 back, I'll see about going to my old high school and pushing the brakes and gas to their limits on a weekend -- there's a quarter-mile stretch of road that would be perfect for this kind of thing, getting up to 25 (15 if that's the speed limit) and slamming on the brakes to get a feel for stopping distance and force. My drive to and from work has a few... let's just say "difficult" areas where that info is critical to knowing which is a better option: swerving or stopping.

Oh, I almost-not-really forgot: I took a video! [Link (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Videos/20120908%20DPI%20First%20Drive.AVI)] (104 MB, 56 seconds, 640x480). You can see me waving at around 0:43 to my Dad and brother-in-law. Learned one minor lesson: be in motion when steering, however slow. I knew manual steering was very noticeable at stops, but didn't realize ihow noticeable until around 0:37.

I can't wait to get my car into your shop one day, Josh.Trust me, it's worth it! :thumbup: The service alone is outstanding. He's a perfectionist, and if something's not going to last, he's very open and honest about it. He showed me my valve covers and told me they were too pitted to last long, so he said he'd swap them out for good ones at no charge (speaking of which, I forgot to take the old ones home... I'll bring them back next time I'm there). It's all the little things that add up, and damn are there a lot of 'em!

And to think, if I lived closer to Chicago, I may never have gone to DPI. Man would I have missed out!

Shep

09-14-2012, 11:45 PM

Update on the website: database integration is now a functioning prototype! I temporarily removed the styling of the pages for now; I want to re-use the current template, but it'll be of a different angle, of which I may already have a picture. This will save considerable "real estate" and provide a neater effect when it's all said and done. No spoilers though, I'm thinking the design may come last, which will let me work on the important stuff first, and save the aesthetics for when I have 559 back, if it's not done before then.

Anyways, here's the "sightings" page, where I'm listing every single time I take 559 for a spin anywhere, however minor:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Website%20progress/2012-09-14_01.png
Note that this is 100% database-driven, with a format that should (hopefully) alleviate confusion. The "name" of where it's been (e.g. DPI) is only shown for the first entry, and ditto for any duplicated dates. This means no screwing around with HTML that may result in an unusable page -- all I have to do is add an entry to the applicable database table, and presto, PHP takes care of the rest! I'm really starting to like PHP. I can see why it's so popular.

I also have some database tables for "special pages" (standalone pages mostly, such as tutorials, modifications, etc.), and one for 559 myths. It almost (?) seems pretentious to have a myths page for my D, but after this whole "wind tunnel" story that turned out to be a misunderstanding, I'd like to have the first result on Google be a page explaining it's false and why the window is like that. Then I realized I wanted a place for the hood plugs to be listed, the CFR background, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized how many things fit into that category, so I'm currently working on that. I do wonder if I'm a little :screwy: on this one though.

I did come across the original Bill of Sale for 559, printed in 1983. It was written up on a typewriter, and the page is actually embossed from the typewriter keys hitting the paper. It lists the mileage as 725 on purchase, not 750 as first thought (so it got even less use at DMC), but at least I have some documentation behind this number. The full VIN is given, as well as the purchase price ($15,800, which I now realize is almost dyslexic of the price I paid for it, $18,500). I'm debating on whether or not I should share it -- yes, it's a great piece of history, but it is the Bill of Sale, and I'm not sure if it can be used maliciously (e.g. to try and transfer ownership). The title is definitely off-limits, and considering it's a recent title from Michigan anyways, here's no point in sharing it, but I worry the Bill of Sale may be able to in effect "override" the title, which (naturally) is a very bad thing to put out there. If anything, I'll censor some of it so it's unusable, but the question is what to censor, if I even need to do that at all.

Domi

09-15-2012, 05:11 AM

Thanks for the update, can't wait to see the final result :thumbup2:

Delorean Industries

09-23-2012, 03:27 PM

559 stripped undergoing minor frame repairs and top coating.

Shep

09-24-2012, 12:03 AM

Thanks for the update! It's good to see 559 getting the attention it has so long deserved!

And on that note, I do have a few things to add. First, I have made more progress with the website! I have the whole "myths" page generating dynamically, both showing all myths and showing them in detail, all database driven. I haven't made any progress since last Monday though; life kind of threw me a curveball and I suddenly became a crapton busier every night starting Tuesday. But things settled down today, so hopefully I'm past it! I'm taking tomorrow off, but I will be doing things around the house (I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and my Dad is on vacation since he starts a new job October 1st, so I will be doing stuff with him.) I will have the morning off though, so hopefully I have time to work on it some more!

Second, in another thread, Special T Auto was brought up. I had seen his site before, and he has gotten mixed reviews with his parts. I took a look at all he had to offer to familiarize myself, and noticed he had binnacle and steering wheels covered in both vinyl and leather. This got me thinking: 559 has a later style steering wheel and binnacle. Very early in production, binnacles were leather wrapped with white thread, and the steering wheels were wrapped in vinyl. Later on, they switched the two, using vinyl in the binnacles and leather wrap in the steering wheels. That's when the light bulb went off in my head: I'd love to have a unique DeLorean, and having a leather binnacle and vinyl steering wheel would certainly do exactly that, yet it would still be original! Plus it would give me the ideal opportunity to replace all the dashboard lights with LED variants. Except the alternator light, since incandescent bulbs are more sensitive to the low wattage those bulbs receive for the more minor problems, but I would still verify that the bulb was intact. The question is where would I get the parts recovered, and how much would it run me. I guess I'd also need to see an example of the earlier setups so I can see if I'd even like it. But personally, that binnacle that came off of Will.I.Am's DeLorean looked sharp! And that was black with white thread. I'll have to think about this one.

dmc6960

09-24-2012, 10:00 AM

I know DMCCa and DMCMW both do binnacle recovering. The binnacle your referring to off of Will.i.am's car was done at DMCCa.

Delorean Industries

09-24-2012, 10:01 AM

I know DMCCa and DMCMW both do binnacle recovering. The binnacle your referring to off of Will.i.am's car was done at DMCCa.

We do it as well of course.

Shep

09-24-2012, 12:34 PM

We do it as well of course.Figures. You do everything! :biggrin:

I'm sure you've recovered plenty of vinyl binnacles and leather steering wheels, but have you ever swapped the two around and put leather on the binnacle and vinyl on the steering wheel, as would be "correct" for 559? Or if not, would you be comfortable doing so? This would be the whole purpose to the recovering: to swap the materials so it's then correct for the VIN. If it's just a matter of sourcing the materials, I can talk to Tony Swann to figure out what he recommends.

LEVY

09-24-2012, 04:36 PM

Figures. You do everything! :biggrin:

I'm sure you've recovered plenty of vinyl binnacles and leather steering wheels, but have you ever swapped the two around and put leather on the binnacle and vinyl on the steering wheel, as would be "correct" for 559? Or if not, would you be comfortable doing so? This would be the whole purpose to the recovering: to swap the materials so it's then correct for the VIN. If it's just a matter of sourcing the materials, I can talk to Tony Swann to figure out what he recommends.

I don't see a big problem recovering your wheel and biinacle, I also believe you should trust Josh should you need a recommendation, he is the one doing the big money work anyway.

LEVY

Shep

09-24-2012, 07:47 PM

I don't see a big problem recovering your wheel and biinacle,I'm more concerned with the different materials. I am unfamiliar with the process other than the basics, so I do not know if different materials pose different challenges, or is even doable. I figure instead of making assumptions that it can be done, I'd ask around and figure that out.

I also believe you should trust Josh should you need a recommendation, he is the one doing the big money work anyway.Exactly why I'm asking. If he feels comfortable doing it, I trust that he'll do a good job. But if he doesn't, then I'll know not to put him out of his element in such an uncommon request. He is a stickler for the details, and even though I haven't been able to test his work firsthand (i.e. drive 559), there have been many times in this process where his workmanship and attention to detail continually amaze me. There's a reason why my repair bill keeps growing with things that aren't critical to getting it running.

Dangermouse

09-24-2012, 11:10 PM

LEVY

09-25-2012, 10:37 AM

Shep

09-25-2012, 11:59 AM

Fwiw I think that with leather or leather-look binnacle, seats, console, door trim etc, a vinyl wheel would come off as 'cheap', even though it may be correct.

It's also the part you will touch the most so I would recommend leather , if you were asking, which you aren't. :)Which is why I said "I'll have to think about it." :wink: I'm not getting it done quite yet. I'd like to drive 559 for a while before I make a decision on recovering the binnacle and steering wheel. It's one of those things where I'd like to get a feel for what I currently have, and then make a decision.

Although it's more how it feels rather than how it looks. Every time I'm able to inspect a DeLorean (three times so far, not counting DPI), I don't really notice the steering wheel. If I were to go through all the pictures I've taken, the only ones with the steering wheel as the main subject are ones focusing on the odometer. I look at the seats, the cargo net, what he has behind the cargo net, the shifter, the radio, the VIN, the carpets, the gauges, but never really the steering wheel. If I as a spectator don't notice it, I doubt other spectators will either. I believe my daily driver (stock '01 Civic EX) also has a vinyl steering wheel, so it's really quite debatable.

Just food for thought at this point, not a plan of action.

Shep

10-02-2012, 11:17 PM

I've finally gone bonkers. The main page of VIN 559's upcoming website was yet to be determined. I had a vague idea in mind of what I wanted to do, but was a little hesitant to actually do it. I wasn't sure how big of a project it would be, and how long it would take. Last weekend, I decided "to hell with it" and started working on a blog. Yes, a home-grown blog. I started with the database, added a few entries, then worked on the PHP part of it. Today I have the basic functionality done. Here's a screenshot of my progress, continuing with the "basic" style for simplicity.:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Website%20progress/2012-10-02_01.png
I know the dates are far in the past; I'm writing these entries as I have recorded them at the time and as I remember them now. Partially because I need the entries for testing purposes, and partially so I have a record of these experiences.

What I'm really happy about right now is that I have personally created 100% of this website I've built for VIN 559. Everything is done from the ground up, from scratch. No bloated software with security issues to worry about, pretty much no security issues period considering the the only access to the database that PHP has is read-only. Everything's tweaked exactly to my liking, and it's really starting to look good now! Next on the list: finish adding these blog entries, perhaps add a few more "myths", then create the overall look and it should be good to go! :thumbup2:

By the way, quick note: I do have a web address picked out, however I do not want to start paying for web hosting until I am ready to publish stuff to that server, so I have held off on registering the domain. Please don't post suggestions as I don't want the web crawlers to see it and register it themselves, or it'll be a pain in the ass to get it from them, both financially and procedurally. Thanks! :)

Delorean Industries

10-08-2012, 06:40 PM

Another quick update for those following the vin 559 saga. Frame repaired, epoxied and top coated. Ready for reassembly.

Shep

10-08-2012, 11:38 PM

Another quick update for those following the vin 559 saga. Frame repaired, epoxied and top coated. Ready for reassembly.Thanks for the update Josh! I was actually going to call you soon to see how things were going. Now I don't need to. I'll let you keep working on 559 then! :)

Perhaps I'll think of visiting a couple weekends from now. Today was the first day I had to scrape ice off my windshield, and it got me thinking about her again. My daily driver I couldn't care less about scratching the paint, but stainless steel is a whole 'nother story, being stainless and all. I'll have to think about it; this weekend I have plans, but the following weekend I believe I'm available. Not sure though.

Anyways, I have not made much progress on VIN 559's website since the last update. I did add Post 13 (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4117-VIN-559-Captain-s-Log&p=59851&viewfull=1#post59851) and the tail end of Post 6 (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4117-VIN-559-Captain-s-Log&p=58779&viewfull=1#post58779) to the first blog post to be transcribed from this thread, but that's as far as I got. I would've gotten a ton of work done Saturday night, but I bought a new laptop! The "D" key on my old one refused to work half the time, it was overheating (with an active, two-fan cooling pad even), was very, very slow to boot up, and was still running 32-bit Vista. I went with an ASUS U47A, which, besides the huge performance and reliability upgrade, has a very nice brushed aluminum finish that will match 559 quite nicely at car shows. In fact, I just finished getting everything transferred from my old laptop to this new one, including the database and website, so work can now resume! I saw DMCH and DPI both put DeLorean emblems on non-DeLorean equipment, and am considering the same kind of deal here. Not sure though.

Anyways, as far as the graphics of the website, I have a few candidate image sources I've taken, so I'll have to figure out which one best matches the perspective/angle I'm aiming for. Besides that and adding the rest of the blog posts, it's just a matter of fixing a few issues here and there, and it should be all set!

Domi

10-09-2012, 02:37 PM

Awesome job on the frame!
Your car will be better than new :)

Shep

10-13-2012, 12:39 AM

So I decided to chase up a lead recently. Rich W stated that at one time in DMCH's past, they had some original vinyl steering wheels. Makes a ton more sense than recovering a perfectly good leather steering wheel to become vinyl, so I sent DMCH James an email a couple weeks ago. I didn't hear back, and thought maybe I wasn't supposed to know any of this information. Then yesterday I got an email from James, which said he vaguely remembered me asking about some vinyl steering wheels, but couldn't figure out who said it or where it was. I told him I was indeed interested, and was also looking for a leather binnacle. Unfortunately, the leather binnacles are all gone, which makes sense -- it's higher quality than vinyl, so naturally they would be used up first. So I'm back to considering the recovering of the binnacle with leather. I'll have to talk to some other 500 series owners with leather binnacles; perhaps they'll know the specifics of the material used (i.e. what kind and color of the leather and the stitching).

James said that it was at one time thought the leather could be removed from a leather steering wheel to expose the vinyl underneath, however there is a groove cut into the vinyl at the top center of the wheel, and the center spokes closest to the center of the wheel are shaved enough to lose their grain (texture), so this doesn't actually work. He did say though that they had about ten original vinyl steering wheels, all of which had some sort of tree sap on them that he had yet to figure out how to remove. So they were not in condition to sell.

All except one.

James sent me a picture of the last good condition vinyl steering wheel they have:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Rarities/Resized/VinylSteeringWheels.jpg (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Rarities/VinylSteeringWheel.jpg)
(click for full size)

The last one??? Hell yeah! I'll take it! :giddy:

So today on my lunch hour, I called them up and ordered it. And tonight it shipped! I've ordered things through their internet shop before, but never special ordered anything before. There's a first time for everything, and it's been an overwhelmingly positive experience thus far! :race:

Of course, about nine more are left, but each has some tree sap-like substance on them, so it's not the actual last one. Just the last one that doesn't need any work. :wink:

Quick update on the website while I'm posting here: I've now converted ten prior postings (including three or four new ones), and have twelve more including this one to go. Now that I'm grabbing the postings from this thread, I simply copy the HTML, tweak it a bit (e.g. to compensate for removed smileys), and put it in the database. Shouldn't be too long now!

Shep

10-18-2012, 11:57 PM

The vinyl steering wheel arrived today! :giddy:

I got home and immediately went to the front door to bring in the package. Once inside, I opened it up:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/121018%20-%20October%2018%2C%202012%20-%20DMCH%20Package/Resized/DMCHSteeringWheelDelivery01s.JPG (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/121018%20-%20October%2018%2C%202012%20-%20DMCH%20Package/DMCHSteeringWheelDelivery01.JPG)

That's quite a lot of packaging! Good thing too: one of the bottom corners of the box was crushed in somewhat, which is the first out of about 5-10 packages from DMCH that has ever had any kind of damage, all shipped UPS Ground. I wasn't worried though: this steering wheel is round, so there was no configuration where it would have encountered any damage from the incident considering the size of the affected area. It'd be one thing if it were the side of the box, but to the corner, no harm was done.

I carefully unwrapped everything, and there she was! Pristine condition! I of course took the opportunity to snap a picture:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/121018%20-%20October%2018%2C%202012%20-%20DMCH%20Package/Resized/DMCHSteeringWheelDelivery02s.JPG (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/121018%20-%20October%2018%2C%202012%20-%20DMCH%20Package/DMCHSteeringWheelDelivery02.JPG)

I must say, this is very, very different from every other vinyl steering wheel I have put my hands on to date. It has a unique feel to it: stiff, textured, and easy to grip. It looks very unique too. I must say, I am really, really digging the vinyl steering wheel! When I first decided to get it, I was worried I wouldn't like it, and would have to figure out who to pass it on to, how to get it there, etc. Now that I have it, I've made up my mind: I will be installing this vinyl steering wheel on VIN 559! Myself, of course. Not that I don't trust Josh or anything; it's really just something I want to do myself. Plus it means I get to have it at my place for a while! :approve:

I do see what James was talking about when he mentioned some sort of tree sap. On the back of the wheel, there is some substance that looks perhaps like glue or sap or something, but since it's on the back, no one's going to notice. It's not sticky or anything though, so I don't have to worry about that part. Feels almost the same as the rest of the steering wheel. Just looks different.

I know some of you are wondering what's going to happen to the current leather steering wheel. Well, I'm keeping that one too. Why? Simple: to illustrate the differences between early (vinyl) steering wheels and later (leather) steering wheels. When I take her on car shows, the leather one will be sitting in the trunk, with some sort of label indicating this was changed not too long into production. The vinyl one will be in use (obviously). This has me thinking about the binnacle: perhaps I should do something similar here as well: instead of recovering the binnacle to convert it from vinyl to leather, perhaps I should try tracking down a leather binnacle. If I am able to obtain one, then I can put the vinyl one in the trunk next to the leather steering wheel. Doing both this way also has the added bonus that if I ever decide I don't like it for whatever reason, I'll still have the current versions to replace the new ones with.

Quick blurb on the website: blog posts are all done, so I'm working on the design now. It's just a matter of carefully photoshopping the background, changing the colors, and it should be good to go! I am scrapping the whole "myths" idea; I can't seem to add any meaningful content to it, and it comes off as more pretentious than anything. "Sightings" is staying though, if for nothing else then to provide an alibi for my whereabouts on any particular night :)

Delorean Industries

10-19-2012, 07:28 AM

Update on the restoration end:
Your new matched piston and liner set is ready for installation. You and Jack Skeens are the first of our next generation of engine builds here at DPI. Brand new high tolerance liner and piston combinations manufactured for us.

For those paying attention. Our engine builds now feature new cylinder liners, new pistons, new bearings main and rod, new connecting rods, all gaskets and seals and camshafts. The only components at this time that are refurbished are the blocks, heads and crankshaft. (obviously engine covers as they are not a wear item)

Delorean Industries

10-19-2012, 07:46 AM

A shot of the chassis going back together.

Delorean Industries

10-19-2012, 07:49 AM

Rear section of the chassis assembled.

Domi

10-19-2012, 03:12 PM

Awesome job!

Shep

10-20-2012, 12:31 AM

Nice job! Everything looks brand new! Can't wait to see more as it progresses! :thumbup:

Update on the restoration end:
Your new matched piston and liner set is ready for installation. You and Jack Skeens are the first of our next generation of engine builds here at DPI. Brand new high tolerance liner and piston combinations manufactured for us.

For those paying attention. Our engine builds now feature new cylinder liners, new pistons, new bearings main and rod, new connecting rods, all gaskets and seals and camshafts. The only components at this time that are refurbished are the blocks, heads and crankshaft. (obviously engine covers as they are not a wear item)Wow, sweet! Me and Jack are trendsetters :biggrin:

I see the body of VIN 559 in the background of this picture:
14226
Somehow turned itself 90 degrees counterclockwise, but when upright, it's the very top-right one. I recognize the gas flap hood, fender antenna, and contour wipers. Seems just as high up as the neighboring D's, on a rolling chassis perhaps? Anyways, thanks for the pictures! It's good to see updates like this.

If you're still here, are there any parts other than the engine covers that are ready for me to take home? I know I forgot those last time I was there.

Delorean Industries

10-20-2012, 08:43 AM

Nice job! Everything looks brand new! Can't wait to see more as it progresses! :thumbup:

Wow, sweet! Me and Jack are trendsetters :biggrin:

I see the body of VIN 559 in the background of this picture:
14226
Somehow turned itself 90 degrees counterclockwise, but when upright, it's the very top-right one. I recognize the gas flap hood, fender antenna, and contour wipers. Seems just as high up as the neighboring D's, on a rolling chassis perhaps? Anyways, thanks for the pictures! It's good to see updates like this.

If you're still here, are there any parts other than the engine covers that are ready for me to take home? I know I forgot those last time I was there.
Lots! Old tires, misc parts etc. next week for a visit?

Shep

10-20-2012, 12:52 PM

Lots! Old tires, misc parts etc. next week for a visit?Sweet! Next Saturday sounds good to me! I might not be able to take everything in one trip though; the Explorer we had may not fit all the tires plus the rest of the spare parts and still have room for passengers. I'll have to check.

By the way, I saw in another thread that Tire Rack sells Kumho tires (minus wheel) in the T125/70 D15 size for the spare. Since I'm going with Kumho tires for the rest of the car, can I add that spare to the list? Last time I visited DPI, we didn't think anyone made that size. I checked their website, and T125 in general isn't listed anywhere, so apparently one must call to obtain the spare. I think it runs about $60 if I recall correctly. That would give me peace of mind in case I ever broke down anywhere.

Delorean Industries

10-20-2012, 01:06 PM

They are not available. We checked a few weeks ago again. My lead tech races and is sponsored by Kuhmo.

jawn101

10-20-2012, 01:19 PM

They are not available. We checked a few weeks ago again. My lead tech races and is sponsored by Kuhmo.

Tire rack definitely has them, myself and several other owners just purchased them. Details here: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?5130-Spare-Tire/page3

Delorean Industries

10-20-2012, 01:21 PM

Tire rack definitely has them, myself and several other owners just purchased them. Details here: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?5130-Spare-Tire

I know they are now in stock through tire rack but not directly from Kumho as apparently manufacturing has stopped. I won't deal with tire rack due to ridiculous prices and a real problem with selling dated tires.

Delorean Industries

10-20-2012, 01:24 PM

Nice job! Everything looks brand new! Can't wait to see more as it progresses! :thumbup:

Wow, sweet! Me and Jack are trendsetters :biggrin:

I see the body of VIN 559 in the background of this picture:
14226
Somehow turned itself 90 degrees counterclockwise, but when upright, it's the very top-right one. I recognize the gas flap hood, fender antenna, and contour wipers. Seems just as high up as the neighboring D's, on a rolling chassis perhaps? Anyways, thanks for the pictures! It's good to see updates like this.

If you're still here, are there any parts other than the engine covers that are ready for me to take home? I know I forgot those last time I was there.

Correct. We have carts for the bodies in the shop so that our lifts are not tied up during frame work.

Shep

10-20-2012, 03:57 PM

I know they are now in stock through tire rack but not directly from Kumho as apparently manufacturing has stopped. I won't deal with tire rack due to ridiculous prices and a real problem with selling dated tires.Alrighty then, scratch that idea.

I did a bit more research, and apparently the Nissan Versa came with the T125/70 D15 size from 2007 to at least 2013 (perhaps beyond), so someone must still be making tires that'll fit. Just have to figure out who's producing them.

Shep

10-28-2012, 11:30 PM

I have a major, major update! Yesterday I saw 559 at DPI. It was sort of a quick visit, so I don't have too many pictures (and the ones I have are a bit blurry), but I did bring the original tires home! They're in bags on my back porch now. One of the rear tires has the air sucked out already, and the other three tires need to be done. I was originally planning on putting the tires in my bachelor pad/man cave, and my parents wanted them in the shed. We've come to an agreement that they belong on the garage ceiling, above where the DeLorean will be staying. I'll be sure to go a bit overkill on the number of attachment points -- redundancy will prevent them from falling on top of 559. I also brought home the valve covers I forgot last time I was there, and one of the lower controls arms. I say "one" because Josh couldn't find the second one, so he gave me the one he could find. They're visibly bent, so they need replacing. All the other parts that have been replaced so far are at home to the best of my knowledge.

The frame was off, but it's all coming back together now! When I walked in the door, I was greeted with this sight:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/121027%20-%20October%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Frame%20Off/Resized/DPIFrameOff01s.jpg (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/121027%20-%20October%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Frame%20Off/DPIFrameOff01.jpg)

The pictures really don't do it justice. It looks like I walked into a factory and took a look at one of the frames on the assembly line. Everything looks and feels brand new. Well, the radiator actually is, but that's about the only part on there that is new to the best of my knowledge. It even looks brand new from the rear!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/121027%20-%20October%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Frame%20Off/Resized/DPIFrameOff02s.jpg (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/121027%20-%20October%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Frame%20Off/DPIFrameOff02.jpg)

Sweet! Josh did show me the brake calipers and asked what I wanted to do with those. They looked dirty, but to the best of my knowledge have no problems functioning. It seemed to work fine when coasting (i.e. without vacuum assist), so hopefully I don't need new ones. He also showed me the new shocks 559 will be getting. They're bright yellow, and he was wondering if I wanted to go with a light gray stock look. There's no bright colors anywhere on 559, so naturally I went for a light gray stock look. Everything is mostly monochrome, except for lights, stickers, and the recall paint.

I spotted the body of 559 off to the side, right where it was in the last status update I got from Josh:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/121027%20-%20October%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Frame%20Off/Resized/DPIFrameOff03s.jpg (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/121027%20-%20October%2027%2C%202012%20-%20DPI%20Frame%20Off/DPIFrameOff03.jpg)

It's one of only two D's in there with a fender antenna, and one of one with a fender antenna and a gas flap hood. Plus its got the contour wipers, and the fender antenna appears to be a different variant than the other one I spotted. You can see a wooden dolly it's resting on in that picture. Josh said it's so he can keep using the lifts for other D's while the frame-offs are underway -- no point in hogging up the lifts for the long-term projects like mine when there's short-term projects that are done in the middle. I saw another frame off to the side near mine, and it was a mess! Josh told me that's what mine looked like before he cleaned it up. Didn't think to take a picture though; I may have wanted to differentiate it between my frame by not taking pictures.

Anyways, we got to talking, and Josh said she'll be done in three and a half weeks! :giddy: And better yet, he's going to take 559 to a test track to drive it, and invited me to come along! Well hell yeah I'll go, "test track" is code for "legal fast lane" :p But in all seriousness, I'll keep the speed reasonable. Last time I drove a DeLorean, I was very careful with it, and drove it like it was a boat, accelerating slowly and stopping slowly as well. I need to work my way up to being fully comfortable with it, and a test track is the perfect place to do exactly that -- no worrying about holding up (or colliding with) traffic.

And I also have major news on the website front: it's 99% completed! I have Thursday and Friday off, but I'm hoping I can get it live before then. The blog posts are 100% up-to-date, the design is 100% completed, really the only thing I have left to do is incorporate a menu, get the pages working on the blog, and then it's ready to upload! Hopefully I can do the menu quickly! I'm really hoping my next post in this thread has images from the VIN 559 website! :wiggle:

Chris Burns

10-29-2012, 12:37 AM

Very cool progress man! Can't wait to see the results.

Does my heart good to see another 3 digit VIN on the road!!:aniclap:

Delorean Industries

10-29-2012, 09:25 AM

Ron

10-29-2012, 10:13 AM

Man that looks sweet Shep, ...Josh!

Jacko

10-29-2012, 11:19 AM

Looking good, Shep. Real, visible progress being made now! Three and a half weeks til D Day ... D as in Delorean, D as in Done, D as in Delivered, D as in Drive!! Enjoy the glare of the limelight, Shep. Me and 4915 will be right behind you. Josh said mine will be D ... D ... D ... Done the last week of the year. It'll be the best Christmas present I ever got!!:thumbup::driving1::thumbup:

... and the most expensive!!

Shep

10-29-2012, 11:40 PM

Very cool progress man! Can't wait to see the results.Neither can I! She's almost done, the website's almost up, life's in a great spot right now. And just in time for the holidays! I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving twice this year -- once with cousins in Mentor, and once with my brother-in-law (and his new wife) plus my uncle. I'll try to delay the latter group a bit until after I get 559 back. Then I can take them all for rides! :biggrin:

Does my heart good to see another 3 digit VIN on the road!!:aniclap:Mine too, and it's such a privilege to own such a low-VIN DeLorean. The strangest part is that I bought 559 purely because it had a gas flap hood and was in my price range, with the bonus of it being automatic. The only other candidate I found was VIN 1776, which I missed out on by a few days. I don't think it really occurred to me just how rare she is until Rich W mentioned restorations in Post #8 (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4117-VIN-559-Captain-s-Log&p=59191&viewfull=1#post59191) of this very thread.

Man that looks sweet Shep, ...Josh!Josh, definitely Josh. I only wish I had that kind of talent. He makes it look so easy, until you hear him use the phrase "full time" and "70 hours a week" in the same sentence, completely void of the word "overtime". And that's just the guys that work with him! I swear he's bypassing the entire concept of sleep somehow. Major kudos for that kind of time management, honestly.

Looking good, Shep. Real, visible progress being made now! Three and a half weeks til D Day ... D as in Delorean, D as in Done, D as in Delivered, D as in Drive!! Enjoy the glare of the limelight, Shep. Me and 4915 will be right behind you. Josh said mine will be D ... D ... D ... Done the last week of the year. It'll be the best Christmas present I ever got!!:thumbup::driving1::thumbup:559 will be the best Christmas present I got as well! I purchased her a few weeks before my 22nd birthday, and I'll get her back and ready to go a few weeks before Christmas. Amazing timing all things considered.

D Day... gotta remember that one.

... and the most expensive!!You can say that again! :hysterical:

By the way Jack, I can't wait to read your story! Hopefully the write-up is going well :thumbup:

Shep

11-03-2012, 12:38 AM

So a bit of a delayed update. I finally got the website working 100% on my local computer at 1 AM on Thursday night (technically Friday morning). I had today (Friday, although technically yesterday since it's after midnight) off, so I wasn't worried about missing work. This morning, I went ahead and purchased the domain and the hosting. I assumed everything would be hunky-dory until I started trying to get the database working. I was developing on MySQL 5.5 and an equivalent phpMyAdmin version, and wouldn't you know it, GoDaddy uses MySQL 5.0 and an equivalent phpMyAdmin version. I've spent the majority of today trying to adjust all the work I had previously done to accommodate the largely outdated version they're running. Finally the database was in tip-top shape just before dinner, with the only drawback being that it does not allow me to create a less-privileged user without the ability to screw around with anything (keeping my database secure in the event someone gets a hold of my PHP code).

Then I uploaded all my files to the server, and wouldn't you know it, what worked perfectly fine on my machine refuses to work at all on their server. I adjusted my code countless times to accommodate their changes, and still have yet to figure it out. In a last-ditch effort to get SOMETHING running before I had to go to bed tonight, I found a part of their FAQ that provides code to connect to the database, provided all the right parameters. So I adjusted the parameters to be 100% correct as per their specs, and it correctly connects to the database, but refuses to actually display any results. Somehow it's got an error somewhere and refuses to show what (or even where) that error is.

For cryin' out loud, their own code doesn't even work! :banghead:

I'm calling it quits for today. Hopefully I can figure out how to extract the error tomorrow and troubleshoot everything. I'm hoping it's something really stupid, because I REALLY want to get this thing up and running ASAP. I'm in the home stretch, and the finish line is right there, but some idiot put it on a dolly and now it's rolling away before I can cross it, and I'm not even sure if I can run that fast.

One quick note: once my website is fully up and running, you will notice that 90% of the links in the menu don't work. Right now, this is future expansion, and all those things will eventually be there. But for now, they shall be dead links. I also took the liberty of tracking down a menu that requires clicks to operate -- I've always found those "hover menus" to be a pain in the ass when I'm on my phone, so hopefully this will be mobile-friendly.

Shep

11-03-2012, 07:19 PM

VIN559.com (http://VIN559.com/) IS UP!

Turns out it was something really stupid. I didn't realize the server is Linux-based, and I'm running Windows. Linux is case-sensitive, while Windows is not. I switched the server from Linux to Windows, and now everything is running and good to go!

Domi

11-04-2012, 03:27 PM

Congratulation on the job done :)

Shep

11-04-2012, 05:05 PM

Congratulation on the job done :)Thanks! I'm working on some of the other pages as we speak. I'm hoping to have the website more respectable in the next few days. Google has already cached some of the pages, so that's always a good sign considering I forgot to submit the site to Google for evaluation. I'll give it a while for it to gather everything, but so far it all ranks just below this thread, so it won't be long before VIN559.com becomes the number one result for "VIN 559"!

LEVY

11-04-2012, 05:28 PM

Since vin559 is part of you domain name, it will rank # 1 on search engines, even if you have non related content.
google will give priority to forums, so depending on post on this forum, your website may rank # 1 or #2 at some times, nothing to worry about because both links go to vin 559.

LEVY

Thanks! I'm working on some of the other pages as we speak. I'm hoping to have the website more respectable in the next few days. Google has already cached some of the pages, so that's always a good sign considering I forgot to submit the site to Google for evaluation. I'll give it a while for it to gather everything, but so far it all ranks just below this thread, so it won't be long before VIN559.com becomes the number one result for "VIN 559"!

Shep

11-10-2012, 07:13 PM

This is officially post #100 of this thread! Can't believe it's been a hundred posts already. Seems like only yesterday that I started this thread in the first place.

VIN559.com is still ranked below this forum thread, and most of the pages are cached, but it appears the ranking is somewhat haphazard. It used to be possible to submit the URL to Google for indexing directly, but now it seems they have integrated this with their "Webmaster Tools", so I need to register to do that. I'll give it a bit more time to see where the site ranks once it caches everything and go from there. I suspect it will need some manual intervention, but I'll hold off on that for now.

Update on the website: the History page (http://vin559.com/history.php) is now up! It's quite in-depth, so it may take a while to read through it, particularly if you're not a speed reader. Kind of fitting for me to finish the History page on post #100. I'm thinking about expanding on the Pawn Stars section, perhaps making a page specifically for the show. I have the episode handy, so I can create a transcript, perhaps expand on a few points of interest. Not sure about this one.

On a side note, every page on the site is now 100% valid XHTML Strict, with a little badge on the bottom of the bumper you can click to check for yourself. Meaningless to most (I can already hear you asking "what's XHTML Strict?"), but basically it's a standards thing. I always make sure all my sites conform to this standard whenever possible to make the site's appearance more uniform across different browsers, and while there are still differences here and there, there's much fewer of them because of it.

Shep

11-12-2012, 11:44 PM

And today the Third Taillight Tutorial (http://vin559.com/thirdtaillight.php) page is up! I already had this one mostly done, so it was just a matter of converting formats. Unfortunately, it'll need to stay on my website and can't be transferred over to the How To's section here due to the length -- I simply could not condense it down to below 5,000 characters no matter what I removed and shortened, even without pictures. So, needless to say, I am quite unable to post it here. But it will always exist on my website.

Bitsyncmaster

11-13-2012, 06:56 AM

It's better to link to your site. That way if you make a change you only need to update that one copy and don't forget about other copies floating around.

Dangermouse

11-13-2012, 08:32 AM

Or you could convert it to a pdf and attach it to a thread in the "How To" and then owners could easily print it off to refer to as they do this mod.

Minor point, but your main tail lamps should have two brake bulbs/segments in each side, not just one like your photo shows :hmm:

Shep

11-13-2012, 06:59 PM

Minor point, but your main tail lamps should have two brake bulbs/segments in each side, not just one like your photo shows :hmm:Boards are bad :wink: I believe (key word) what happened was the path for the parking lights intersected with the path for the brake lights, while poor connections on the brake lights pins made them nonfunctional, and caused only the parking lights to work. At least, that's what my analysis of all the light combinations found, since all the bulbs on both boards were intact. I made notes on masking tape placed directly on the affected parts, as seen in the first picture in step 11 (http://vin559.com/thirdtaillight.php#InstallationStep11) (only the parts that worked abnormally had notes, which is why the left reverse light has tape on it but the right does not). They'll be replaced by the time the work at DPI is done, if not already.

Shep

11-15-2012, 11:30 PM

Hot damn, I am on a roll! The VIN Calculator (http://vin559.com/vincalc.php) is up!

This one honestly took me six hours tops. It's really not a difficult process to understand, it's just a wee bit involved. The neat thing about this one is that if you type in just the VIN number, it automatically fills in the rest of the VIN, and correctly breaks it down by model year (so typing in "559" results in "SCEDT26T8BD000559" for example). And since it's Javascript, as long as you keep the page open, you can be disconnected from the internet and continue to use the page normally. Strangely, no one else seems to have even tried a Javascript version, even though this inherently provides the best privacy since the VIN is never stored anywhere, server-side or client-side. I'll be keeping an eye out for imitators, but I'll always have the satisfaction of knowing I was the first :wiggle:

I will be using this page at work, actually. We run different VIN's through our system, and some features are "unlocked" if it corresponds to a make, model, and year we have on record. I have only made one such VIN, and could use a few more for testing different scenarios. Now that I have this part up, I can make a whole list of "dummy" VIN's for testing purposes, making my job a whole lot easier. Funny how a hobby (passion?) can help me out at work.

LEVY

11-16-2012, 12:31 AM

Good job!

LEVY

Shep

11-16-2012, 06:45 PM

Good job!Thanks! :biggrin: I'm one page short of having the site half-done. Can't wait to finish it!

DMCMW Dave

11-16-2012, 07:20 PM

http://dmcnews.com/Techsection/vindecoder.html

Was put up in 2003.

LEVY

11-16-2012, 07:31 PM

http://dmcnews.com/Techsection/vindecoder.html

Was put up in 2003.

Yes but it was posted only ten years ago! :D

LEVY

LEVY

11-16-2012, 07:36 PM

Thanks! :biggrin: I'm one page short of having the site half-done. Can't wait to finish it!

Half-done?

Bet you will soon find out this is a never ending task!

LEVY

Shep

11-16-2012, 11:12 PM

http://dmcnews.com/Techsection/vindecoder.html

Was put up in 2003.This page only works for DeLorean VIN's. Even if I use Firebug to change the DeLorean-specific parts of the VIN (changing the "SCEDT" to "12345", for example), that part is already hard-coded into the Javascript, so it has zero effect on the check digit. The read-only parts are already converted into their checksums, leaving only simple multiplication. Mine on the other hand works with any standard 17-digit VIN, DeLorean or otherwise, with the added benefit of automatically converting DeLorean VIN's from their numeric-only abbreviations.

Some code from that page:
startup=16+21+30+20+12+6+12+30+0+(vinyear*9)+32+0E ssentially "SCEDT26T??D0" pre-decoded, with "??" being the check digit and model year, respectively. :wink:

Half-done?

Bet you will soon find out this is a never ending task!Very true! :tongue: Perhaps that should be worded better by saying half of the pages in the navigation bar are completed.

Shep

11-21-2012, 10:26 PM

My post count now officially equals my VIN! :biggrin:
http://vin559.com/images/forums/dmctalk/559postcount.png

And just in time, I also finished the Production Changes (http://vin559.com/productionchanges.php) page! I noticed a pattern: the top half of each section of the menu was completed; the bottom half not done yet. All except the Production Changes page. Naturally, since I already had an Excel sheet in this same format, this was the most logical choice for the next page to work on. Now the menu is evenly split horizontally -- completed on top, incomplete on bottom.

The next one on the list is up for grabs. I can't do the "Specs and Upgrades" due to the whole "horsepower scandal", so that one's out. "Early-VIN Rarities" is something I don't have all the pictures of quite yet, although I think I know who to ask to get them. "Contact" page is out until after the holidays. I think it's either going to be "Future Plans" or "How to Approach an Owner". I know some things I have planned for VIN 559 may be a little off-putting (but non-destructive!) to purists, but if it's going to happen anyways, I might as well gauge reaction first to see how the DeLorean community (plus spectators, family, and friends) feels about it. I will say this: the only thing I'm planning on drilling is the black plastic grille to the front fascia, and even then, I'll keep the old one hanging on my wall unharmed. Everything else will be harmless additions that are easily reverted if I so desire.

LEVY

11-21-2012, 11:14 PM

I was looking at your VIN calculator J.S. code, you have some room for improvement.

LEVY

Shep

11-21-2012, 11:52 PM

I was looking at your VIN calculator J.S. code, you have some room for improvement.Couldn't agree more. It's definitely not my best work, but it does correctly calculate the VIN, so I'll leave it alone for now. Perhaps down the road, I'll get around to tidying it up a bit. One thing that bugged me was the switch statement for the VIN character position (the "(i % 10)" one). 8 is the only oddball in that equation, so I definitely could use a ternary operator there to tidy things up. Then there's the "continue;" part, which I did to make Firefox (or perhaps just Firebug) run through the code correctly; for some reason, reversing the logic and leaving that part out would catch on 10, not 9. Some time I'll take another look at that and figure out why, but for now, it's one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of things :wink:

LEVY

11-22-2012, 08:00 AM

Couldn't agree more. It's definitely not my best work, but it does correctly calculate the VIN, so I'll leave it alone for now. Perhaps down the road, I'll get around to tidying it up a bit. One thing that bugged me was the switch statement for the VIN character position (the "(i % 10)" one). 8 is the only oddball in that equation, so I definitely could use a ternary operator there to tidy things up. Then there's the "continue;" part, which I did to make Firefox (or perhaps just Firebug) run through the code correctly; for some reason, reversing the logic and leaving that part out would catch on 10, not 9. Some time I'll take another look at that and figure out why, but for now, it's one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of things :wink:

You can also add, on the disclaimer part of the page, that this program will not validate a VIN as genuine, but it will only validate the "check number" as a correct number for the entered numbers. People might use this program to do a VIN check when they buy a car and end up with a stolen car with an altered VIN. On the other hand, people might use this program to "make up" a false VIN.

I really like the Delorean part of this program.

Again, you did a good job!

LEVY

Shep

11-22-2012, 11:26 PM

You can also add, on the disclaimer part of the page, that this program will not validate a VIN as genuine, but it will only validate the "check number" as a correct number for the entered numbers. People might use this program to do a VIN check when they buy a car and end up with a stolen car with an altered VIN.Bah, my OCD side got the better of me. Fixed that, and improved the code a bit. :tongue:

people might use this program to "make up" a false VIN.This is actually exactly what I'll be using it for. I do have a legitimate reason though: I work for a vehicle insurance company, and part of our system records the VIN. Normally we use all ones in our testing environment, but some features are "unlocked" if it matches a pattern of a known legitimate VIN (e.g. a 2001 Honda Civic). The problem is, VIN's aren't exactly the kind of thing people share publicly outside the DeLorean community, so it needs to be reverse engineered to arrive at a valid VIN. That's where my VIN Calculation page comes in.

I really like the Delorean part of this program.

Again, you did a good job!Thanks! :biggrin:

Shep

11-23-2012, 06:43 PM

With the restoraiton coming into the home stretch, I thought some of you may want to see the invoice for VIN 559, and all the work that is going into it. The prices have been removed, which is why the right column is blank. Reason being: there is a lot of money that is going into this restoration, and I'd really rather not brag about how much I'm spending.

Without further ado, the invoice is here (http://vin559.com/documents/dpi%20%20invoice%20-%202012-11-23.pdf)!

[permalink to VIN 559 blog post here (http://vin559.com/?24)]

LEVY

11-23-2012, 07:04 PM

Iznodmad

11-23-2012, 07:37 PM

Good example of how a low mileage car will still require a lot of work. Time is evil to cars that don't get used, DeLoreans in particular. Thanks for sharing what your car needed. I hope you will be like me and drive the crap out of your car once you get it back from DPI. I've racked up about 8000 miles since I got mine back in June.

Chris Burns

11-23-2012, 07:48 PM

Man sounds like it was a pricey fix, but it also sounds like you will get your money's worth!:aniclap:

Can't wait to see some pics of it:elmo2:

WHO SAYS 3 DIGIT VIN DELOREANS CAN'T BE SAVED?

Shep

11-23-2012, 09:22 PM

Is $22,000.00 about right for that invoice? :)That's a couple thousand less than what I've already paid towards it, and there's still five figures to go. Quite a doozy, but well worth it!

Good example of how a low mileage car will still require a lot of work. Time is evil to cars that don't get used, DeLoreans in particular. Thanks for sharing what your car needed. I hope you will be like me and drive the crap out of your car once you get it back from DPI. I've racked up about 8000 miles since I got mine back in June.No problem! :biggrin: Believe you me, I'll be driving the hell out of it. My Sightings (http://vin559.com/sightings.php) page is going to get huge as time goes on. It may be low miles now, but it certainly won't stay that way! Going to work is only about 25 miles round-trip (all backroads), so it'll be slow, but as I go to more car shows, it'll add up.

Man sounds like it was a pricey fix, but it also sounds like you will get your money's worth!:aniclap:

Can't wait to see some pics of it:elmo2:Indeed! The quality of the work that I have seen so far is astounding! It might seem like an extraordinarily large bill, but it's easily trumped by the fact that for all intents and purposes, I'm getting a factory-fresh 30-year-old car. I've been tossing around a few photo shoot ideas in my head, partially because I want some really good pictures of it, and partially because I want to hang one of those pictures in large print on my wall. Gotta buy a new DSLR camera first (only have a "point 'n shoot" now), but any serious photographer should have one anyways. There's a few areas nearby that would make excellent photo opportunities. Today is the first day it snowed here, which gives me an idea for some winter shots! :wink:

WHO SAYS 3 DIGIT VIN DELOREANS CAN'T BE SAVED?Food for thought: if I had known VIN 559 wasn't running when I bought it, I guarantee I would've passed it up. No fault of the owner -- it was being stored by a friend, and the last time he saw it in person, it did run (when Pawn Stars was filmed). But the fact that I bought it, then found out what kind of work it needed worked in VIN 559's favor, and certainly saved another DeLorean from being parted out. It's been a roller coaster of ups and downs already, but when all is said and done, I wouldn't change a thing! :biggrin:

LEVY

11-26-2012, 02:22 PM

Bah, my OCD side got the better of me. Fixed that, and improved the code a bit. :tongue:

Thanks! :biggrin:

I see you made it a little simpler!

...........checksumTotal += currChecksum * (i % 10 == 8 ? 10 : 9 - (i % 10)); ...........

E=mc² :)

LEVY

Shep

11-26-2012, 10:59 PM

I see you made it a little simpler!

...........checksumTotal += currChecksum * (i % 10 == 8 ? 10 : 9 - (i % 10)); ...........

E=mc² :)I just caught something now that you posted that -- if i is 9, then that line of code will multiply the current checksum by zero, effectively making the "if (i != 9)" unnecessary. I've now further simplified it by removing that finicky "if" statement, with the side benefit that it'll work in Firebug properly. I think that's pretty much as simple as it gets. Slight loss in performance vs. the original variant (switch statement is more efficient than mathematical computations), but only by a few milliseconds, so nothing noticeable.

Might as well post a small progress update while I'm at it: I've started working on the "Approaching an Owner" page. I admittedly vented a wee bit in writing what not to do, but reading it, it's nothing terribly arrogant or off-putting. That being said, the "don't"'s section was quite long, so I gave my draft a couple headers to separate the "don't"'s from the "do"'s. I also amended my opening to call it "comprehensive". :biggrin: Still a draft (i.e. not on the website yet), but its progressing. This page might need more work at some point...

Phil Peters

11-27-2012, 11:01 AM

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/78099959/VIN%20559/Pictures/Problem%20areas/Resized/Problem11s.JPG
Damaged tape/label under hood latch

What did you decide to do about the tape mark under the hood latch? My car has an early underbody too with a similar tape mark and I'm wondering if it's the remains of this sort of factory sticker:

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=8309&d=1328871477

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=5565&d=1317228427

Cheers,

Phil

Shep

11-27-2012, 08:55 PM

What did you decide to do about the tape mark under the hood latch? My car has an early underbody too with a similar tape mark and I'm wondering if it's the remains of this sort of factory sticker:
[images]Looking at those pictures, I don't think that's what it is. The location of those factory labels is further towards the passenger side, and appear to be written with the same kind of sharpies they used for the cave paintings. Mine on the other hand is directly below the hood latch, and has thin blue lines on it. I first thought it was perhaps a blue line drawing on a white sticker, but now it appears to be something written several times in the same spot to make it bold, and is simply faded. Hard to describe, but you know how sometimes you write something with a pen to be read at a distance, and when you look at it from a bit further away, you notice the letters aren't thick enough to see, so you keep drawing the same shape for each letter slightly offset so it effectively makes the lines thicker, or perhaps just for emphasis? That's what it looks like. For the life of me, I cannot seem to figure out a phrase that gets me any useful google image search results, so I'm at a loss visually, but hopefully you know what I'm talking about.

As far as what I'm doing with it, honestly I'm leaving it alone until I can figure out what it's supposed to be. If it's a label that needs replacing (certainly wouldn't be the first of it's kind -- I have zero labels on the engine cover), then I'll try to source a replacement. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.

Hope this helps! :)

Shep

12-09-2012, 07:34 PM

Just thought I'd fill everyone in on why I've been absent from the forums for the past few days, since a lot has happened. I've been slowly working on the "Future Plans" section for the past few weeks, but when I got to the electrical section, I couldn't decide between a few options, and put it on hold for a few days. The "How To Approach An Owner" page I'm thinking will need to be rewritten, as it is incredibly long and I haven't even started the part outlining what you should do. Unsure on what to work on next, I decided to expand on an idea I had earlier that I mentioned in Post #100 (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4117-VIN-559-Captain-s-Log&p=80761&viewfull=1#post80761), giving Pawn Stars its own page. So on Thursday night, I took my recording of the Pawn Stars episode, figured out how to work with VirtualDub (open source lightweight video editor), then started extracting and saving screen shots. Then I realized if the History Channel wants me to remove the screenshots, the Contact page would be the most logical solution, so I started working on that, but I haven't completed either task yet. Friday night I went to a friend's retirement party.

Saturday I did stuff around the house and did research on a unique project. I've been looking into controlling LED's with bluetooth ever since a month or two after I got VIN 559. It's way, way more awesome than describing it like that sounds. As in blog-worthy awesome. Anyways, I thought I may be able to use an old robotics board I had laying around, but there's now a better and cheaper way to do it. Using that robotics board, adding bluetooth would cost $75 plus shipping! Not to mention the difficulty with finding a power source directly usable in an automobile, being one of those round plugs where the voltages, polarity, amperage, etc. all vary and there's really no order to any of it. I already have a spare USB bluetooth dongle for an unrelated project, and I discovered that the Raspberry Pi (http://www.raspberrypi.org/) will work with it! The Raspberry Pi is only $35 (for now -- one due out in a few months will be $25), and is a fully functioning computer on a credit card-sized circuitboard, powered by the ubiquitous microUSB plug, of which power supplies for both home and auto are plentiful. It's much more elegant than the robotics board, plus programming it will be ten times easier, being Python-derived rather than BASIC-derived. I've ordered it and an extra HDMI cable, and am working on the Android controller app (my 7th app!) until it arrives. It will most definitely be interesting getting Java and Python to behave together, something which I have never done before, but hopefully is very doable!

Today I've been working more on the Android side of things. The app I'm making won't be pretty, nor elegant, but it will allow me to control the lights and precisely change settings on the fly. It's hard to explain without giving it away, but it'll be awesome when it's done! :biggrin:

Shep

12-11-2012, 11:40 PM

UPDATE (December 11, 2012):

I have updated the invoice (http://vin559.com/documents/dpi%20%20invoice%20-%202012-11-23.pdf) with the latest additions, changing the rightmost column to the dates on which the items were added. Mostly small things were added, except for the automatic transmission shift computer. That being said, I was half-expecting the transmission to need some kind of service since that was an issue they mentioned on its Pawn Stars appearance. With 4,641 miles, the issue is more age and corrosion rather tan wear and tear. Sitting mostly still for 30 years, the former two are more pronounced.

[permalink to VIN 559 blog post here (http://vin559.com/?24)]

In addition to the above, I have a few more items to add. The exhaust manifold is quite rotted out, basically unusable. I had been planning on upgrading to the DPI stainless steel exhaust at some point down the road, so I decided instead of letting a perfectly good exhaust manifold go to waste, why not upgrade to the stainless steel exhaust now? I'm getting the cat-delete version, since historical vehicles in Ohio do not require emissions testing nor renewal of the plates.

But the biggest news: I'll be visiting DPI this Saturday evening! :biggrin: It's been quite a while since I last saw VIN 559, but Josh said this weekend, he's aiming to mate the engine and the frame together! A lot of progress has been made -- last time I visited, the engine was still in several pieces, waiting for reassembly. Hopefully they're mated in time for my visit! I've never seen a rolling chassis in person before, and it would be awesome to see mine in that fashion.

Shep

12-20-2012, 11:39 PM

This has been an interesting week. I was supposed to go to DPI last Saturday, but Josh had an unexpected business obligation. We rescheduled for Wednesday, but I had an unexpected funeral. We rescheduled again for Thursday (today), but Josh had an unexpected delayed flight. We rescheduled yet again for this coming Saturday. There's a pattern of alternating unexpected things going on. I know I'm all for binary prefixes, but three's a good number. No need to go to four. But if it absolutely must be four, let's hope it's an unexpected surprise once at DPI, and one that I'd actually like (i.e. not something terrible).

So two more days and one celebration that absolutely nothing happened on doomsday 2012 later, and I'll finally see VIN 559 again! Each visit brings a new surprise, and this time I know I have more parts to bring home! Brake lines, the other lower control arm, transmission shift computer, lots of goodies that I'm forgetting (and some I don't even know about). This restoration has taken about half a year, and it's not even a week and a half from being done! I'm getting antsy already :giddy: Sooo many plans once it's home. It'll be a busy winter -- I may not drive around much, but I certainly have plenty of projects to undertake. Even though I'll be wearing a winter jacket for some of it, I'll be very busy getting prepared for next spring. I will have made much progress before my first car show, that much I can guarantee.

One step at a time though, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself! :biggrin:

Delorean Industries

12-21-2012, 08:17 AM

Shep

12-22-2012, 12:08 AM

It has been a crappy week for both of us!Well, to be fair, I did have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off from work. I had four days left this year, and eight days to use them in, so I took three of them off at the start of this week. The last one I will take this Thursday or Friday depending on either your schedule or the weather.

See you tomorrow!Indeed! The weather is supposed to be bad (again), but I'll be damned if that's gonna stop me! :biggrin:

Shep

12-24-2012, 08:06 PM

Small update: I won't be able to finish the write-up of my Saturday visit until after Christmas. I have made notes of everything gone over so I don't forget, and will reference those when writing it. The holidays have been and will continue to be busy this year, and I only now realized just how busy. Wednesday at the earliest, possibly even later than that.

Merry Christmas everyone! :biggrin:

Delorean Industries

12-24-2012, 10:58 PM

Shep

12-25-2012, 12:49 AM

Want me to hold off on the completed chassis pictures until after your update? I don't want to steal your thunder this is your restoration to show off!I was actually able to write up most of the post while watching TV tonight (which I did not expect to be able to do), so I should be posting it in the next couple of days, hopefully some time tomorrow! Yes, please hold off until it is posted -- it won't be too long like I first thought it would be. :wink:

Shep

12-25-2012, 05:16 PM

I visited DPI today! The engine and transmission have now been mated to the frame, and it is a complete rolling chassis! For those that do not know, DeLoreans can have the body completely lifted off and still be drivable. Not legally, of course, but it is still possible to run them in this configuration.

Here is a front 3/4 shot of the rolling chassis, with the wheels and tires on the left:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/resized/dpirollingchassis01_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/dpirollingchassis01.jpg)

And here is a rear 3/4 shot directly opposite:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/resized/dpirollingchassis02_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/dpirollingchassis02.jpg)

The wheels are then attached to complete the rolling chassis. Tires tend to flatten if they sit for extended periods of time without turning, so for frame-off restorations like this, Josh stacks them sideways until they are needed. New Year's Eve (Monday, which I have off) we will be putting the rolling chassis on a dyno for engine tuning, and I will be present to watch the process. We will also attach the vinyl steering wheel while I am there, which I will take with me. I know I said I wanted to do that myself, but this is one of those specialized things that I am probably only ever doing once. We'll also be putting padding around it for protection while work starts wrapping up!

Josh also threw in a new high amp starter (so no more overheating!) and repainted my transmission! He even left the original tag on there. Everything else on the frame is brand new, refurbished, replated, or repainted, and the transmission was the last item to not meet that criteria, so it was really the last eyesore on the rolling chassis to be addressed.

Then Josh showed me 559's body! The rear quarterpanels were removed for fiberglass repair, and the drivetrain is under the lift to the right. I looked over, and saw this:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/resized/dpirollingchassis03_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/dpirollingchassis03.jpg)

Yes, it's on top of another DeLorean. It lifts much higher up and the doors do easily clear; he does this so he can have two DeLoreans in one footprint. You can see the DeLoreans to the left have this same configuration. VIN 559 looks more bare than before, but what's left is definitely looking a lot better! The fiberglass in the engine compartment is freshly repainted, and he showed me some problem areas underneath that we will be addressing.

Then I noticed my passenger headliner was off, and I could see my first cave painting! "Cave paintings" is a term used to describe writings in hidden areas of the DeLorean that do not normally get seen. Underneath the door headliners, inside the stainless steel body panels, sometimes even other areas that are only seen when service work is being done. Here's the closeup:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/resized/dpirollingchassis04_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/dpirollingchassis04.jpg)

Transcribed:
<div class="indent">8
9.25
DAY/S</div>

Normally on one of the bottom corners, the VIN number for the door is written after a "V". For example, VIN 559 would read as "V559". In this case however, there are no such markings, and what's written there is very bare. This suggests the door was made near the end of production and never went on another DeLorean, i.e. it has been replaced. This confirms some speculation regarding the door being replaced.

Here it is "in context", so you can see where it was:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/resized/dpirollingchassis05_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/dpirollingchassis05.jpg)

Then Josh showed me the vent holes on VIN 559. On the earlier DeLoreans, a hole was drilled into the side of the B-pillar to allow the air to escape and enter while closing and opening the doors (respectively). These were found to be mostly unnecessary, and were removed later on in production, as it is also a source for rain to get down into the fiberglass and cause issues. You can see them in this picture:
http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/resized/dpirollingchassis06_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2012-12-22/dpirollingchassis06.jpg)

He talked about patching the fiberglass to permanently remove the holes. I was uncomfortable with a permanent repair such as this that would remove the originality, so he said he had plugs he could insert into those holes that would prevent the water from entering but not permanently modify the fiberglass itself. This I agreed to, and if at any point I want to restore its function (and risk the water entering the hole), I simply remove the plugs.

Then Josh showed me part of the HVAC system. Part of the vent was cracked right in half, and had duct tape holding everything together. He had removed the duct tape, but the residue and telltale edge lines were still there. Then he showed me the condenser and heat exchanger (for A/C and heat respectively), which both had been replaced some time in VIN 559's history. Those two and the cracked vent will be replaced and/or refurbished as necessary.

Can't wait for the dyno testing in a week, on New Year's Eve! That'll be the first time VIN 559's engine has been run since this frame-off restoration began.

[permalink to VIN 559 blog post here (http://vin559.com/?25)]

Delorean Industries

12-30-2012, 03:31 PM

I phone shot from last week. I will post more asap of the finished frame and chassis.

Shep

01-15-2013, 10:26 PM

I visited DPI this Sunday for a final inspection! I'd like to end this post on a positive note, so before I get to the visit, I'll share what happened after the visit.

My sister finally was able to come this time, and after we went to DPI, she was getting a bit hungry. We decided to go to Burger King, which is only about two miles away. As we're driving, we make a right turn, and almost immediately see this red pickup truck in the middle lane. He was literally leaking fire from his truck! It looked like magma from a volcano dripping down onto the ground. Definitely oil or gas, so two motorists in front of us stopped, got his attention, and told him about it. He jumps out with a cigarette still in his mouth to look at it.

At this point, we continue driving to Burger King and head through the drive-thru. While paying for our meal, I hear sirens, and somehow knew we'd see fire trucks on the scene when we got back. Sure enough, there was a fire truck and an ambulance parked right behind him. Thankfully it was very contained, enough that the hood was popped and there was barely any smoke, so there was minimal damage. Still, it was definitely the first time I've seen the beginning of any kind of car fire. Weirder yet, we also saw a Chrysler Sebring that was parked on the side of the highway, smoking through its hood. Weird how cars seem to be overheating on a warm day in the dead of winter.

Now back to the start of this story! When I walked into DPI, I was greeted with this sight:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/resized/dpifinalinspection01_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/dpifinalinspection01.jpg)

It almost seems obscene, VIN 559's ass hanging out and all (and what a glorious ass it is!) Anyways, everything looks absolutely concours level in the back. The fiberglass is freshly painted (losing the unsightly recall paint, something which I didn't plan on but have grown to prefer), everything is chromed, plated, painted, new DPI SPEC Exhaust, it looks better than the day it left the factory! I'm very glad I got a stainless steel coolant bottle, the original yellow one would really be an eyesore here.

Here it is from a different angle:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/resized/dpifinalinspection02_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/dpifinalinspection02.jpg)

The A/C condenser (right in front) was replaced due to metal shavings in the old one. Evidently the A/C was turned on when there was no freon, probably when it was test driven on Pawn Stars (last time it drove on roads under its own power). That's why the pulley looks chrome. Josh also got a "correct" '81 sticker for the airbox, something which I did not have before! I never understood why it was missing, but the engine cover is missing the labels too (although I'll be stripping the paint off the bottom of the engine cover myself since that's how it's supposed to be, and as such any labels on the engine cover will be removed anyways).

Here's a picture I took from the front while I was there:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/resized/dpifinalinspection03_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/dpifinalinspection03.jpg)

[insert BTTF hover conversion reference here]

Then Josh showed me another cave painting! This one was actually quite interesting, and after much thinking I believe it was added by CFR (Chestnut Fleet Rentals) back when they first got it back from DMC. It was found underneath the T-panel:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/resized/dpifinalinspection04_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/dpifinalinspection04.jpg)

Transcribed:
4 SALE
3¢

I was racking my brains trying to figure out the meaning of it. Why three cents? Why not, say, four cents? Or a metaphorical two cents? It's only been for sale twice, which certainly narrows things down. Josh said someone had "definitely been working in there", as evidenced by the duct tape residue (of which I've seen plenty of already). I kept thinking it was put on by the previous owner, or by the friend that was storing it, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why, and what it meant.

Suddenly it hit me: the entire passenger door was scavenged, what if the T-panel was scavenged as well? Looking at the parts taken off of VIN 559, the cost for acquiring replacement parts appears to be quite close to the price the original owner paid for it. My leading theory is that someone at CFR knew this fact, and decided to write that on the exposed fiberglass as a joke. Then CFR decided to swallow the costs, so the T-panel was covered up, and this joke was (quite literally) preserved for future generations. Yet another cave painting, and soon I'll be able to reveal cave painting #3 - the driver's door!

Then Josh raised VIN 559 on the lift, and holy hell, what a sight! The fiberglass has all been repainted, so the faded and worn fiberglass from before is now entirely fixed. Here's some shots:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/resized/dpifinalinspection05_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/dpifinalinspection05.jpg)
http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/resized/dpifinalinspection06_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/dpifinalinspection06.jpg)
http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/resized/dpifinalinspection07_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-01-13/dpifinalinspection07.jpg)

It looks like one of those scale models! Absolutely stunning work! So naturally I had to ask, what's it going to be worth? Last thing I knew, we were pricing it at $45,000 , but that was before we did some more work on it. Josh told me it's now going to be worth $65,000! Needless to say, the second I get it back, I'm insuring it for that exact value. Some will undoubtedly think that's overkill. But working for a vehicle insurance company, hearing stories of what goes on in our claims department, and working with all the rates for our products has taught me that investing in insurance is a small price to pay for peace of mind knowing that I'm covered in case anything happens, and insuring it for a higher value gives me a higher tolerance before it's considered totaled (which I and I'm sure everyone else hopes never happens!)

After that, we went into his office to make the last payment and discuss some other things. He had me go back to see VIN 559 real quick, to show me some growth on the front firewall and ask where the glovebox torsion bar was. Then he told me the best news I've heard so far: SHE'S COMING HOME ON SUNDAY!!! Six months of a frame-off, ground-up rebuild, and she'll finally be finished and drivable on Sunday! When he told me he wanted me up there for dyno testing next Saturday, I didn't think he'd have her back the very next day! It's supposed to be snowing next Sunday, which here in Brecksville means salt, but if Josh green-lights it, I'll drive her up and down the streets with all the passengers who have been patiently waiting throughout this process. Might even get some good winter shots too!

So this is it! After a six month, frame-off, ground-up rebuild, VIN 559 will finally be returning home!!! Now it's time to start planning projects for the rest of the year!

[permalink to VIN 559 blog post here (http://vin559.com/?26)]

Shep

01-15-2013, 10:28 PM

By the way, in case any of you are wondering why I haven't even logged in for a couple weeks, here's why: I've been working tirelessly on a side project that involved writing a combined 600 to 800 lines of code from scratch for two separate programs (one in Java and one in Python), testing them on two completely different operating systems, and working out the bugs until both were perfected. Lots and lots of work, but it has been fun every step of the way! :biggrin: Now comes the physical part of the build, the very reason I'm doing any of this to begin with. I've progressed about halfway through it, and I'll post pictures (and possibly a video) when I'm done.

Delorean Industries

01-15-2013, 10:50 PM

Quick side note. More to add later. Duct tape is normal to seal the harness plate on the roof box. My comment was to the entire roll stacked beneath to shim the t panel up.

In regards to the value. Multiple parties have pressed the issue with me on purchasing the car. Since it is not your intent to sell I advise them you are not interested. Our frame off cars with higher documented miles are priced at 70k as a base point. Your car is one of the best low vin examples out there hands down. While some enhancements knock it out of concours running who cares. The car needs to be reliable and your intent is to enjoy. So that is what we built!

Mike F

01-15-2013, 11:20 PM

Wow. Those pictures are absolutely breathtaking. The level of detail that was put into that engine and undercarriage (not to mention everything else) is nothing short of incredible. Awesome work. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Rich W

01-16-2013, 01:00 PM

Shep,

I think you may be under-estimating the amount of "damage" that road salt will do to a freshly restored under-carriage of a DeLorean.

I would Highly Recommend resisting the urge to "get it out on the road" right after an expected Winter Storm, in January, in Ohio.

No matter how good the restoration is done, road salt will start doing a number on the under-carriage parts, especially the bare parts
like brake rotors, etc., and once the salt gets into all the "spaces between parts", rust will restart its job to de-grade the restoration.

If the car was meant to be a Driver Car, this would not be an issue, but since you keep referencing this car as an investment, I would
think it over a little longer before you "take it out in the salt", especially right after a restoration has been completed. (just a thought)

On a side note, regarding some of the comments referencing possible work that might have been done at CFR, this is rather unlikely.
It is more likely that work was done at a QAC (including parts swapping, etc.) since CFR did not have set locations for the DeLoreans.
CFR never initially took possesion of the 88 DeLoreans that were leased (only paperwork moved from DMC Corporate to CFR), and many
of the DMC Executives (and a few POGs) continued to use the CFR cars, without interruption, during nearly the entire lease duration.

It was only after Chapter 11 proceedings started did CFR re-claim the Leased Cars, which were stored at various car auction locations
until they were finally sold (at least 6 months after the end of the lease, according to the lease contract). It is much more likely that
any "grease pen" cave drawings were done at a QAC while some of the recalls and service bulletin work was being done, such as roof
panel removal to seal up water leaks, etc. Many CFR cars were also "parts source cars" at QAC's before the lease deal was penned.

As for parts identification, there are much better ways to confirm the vintage of early stainless steel panels on a DeLorean then relying
on permanent marker cave drawings. Close inspection of the construction of the doors is a much better way to determine the vintage.
Door stampings, slight design changes and construction techniques (including how they were welded together) changed throughout the
production run, and it was these differences (and others) that determined passenger door vintage on VIN...559 (not just speculation).

All in all, I will say that VIN...559 is looking much better than the last time I saw it, in Dick's garage in Vegas about 6 years ago.

Keep up the good work.

Later,
Rich W.

Domi

01-16-2013, 04:17 PM

Amazing job done!
Sure, you'll be able to enjoy it without thinking to any trouble that could be occurred if the car was unrestored!
On the other hand, may I ask you on what kind of OS you are coding? Linux?

Shep

01-16-2013, 11:23 PM

In regards to the value. Multiple parties have pressed the issue with me on purchasing the car. Since it is not your intent to sell I advise them you are not interested. Our frame off cars with higher documented miles are priced at 70k as a base point. Your car is one of the best low vin examples out there hands down. While some enhancements knock it out of concours running who cares. The car needs to be reliable and your intent is to enjoy. So that is what we built!Wow, that's impressive! Must've done a good job convincing them; I haven't had anyone ask me about selling, nor would I knowing it's desirable! :biggrin: I guess it's a waiting game to see when I first turn someone down. It's one of those things where by the time someone names a price that would otherwise have me considering it, I then question their motives and why they're willing to spend so much on it, a textbook catch-22. I will be buried with her unless I have another generation to pass it onto, but I'm not even halfway to a midlife crisis, so I've got another three lives before I have to worry about that.

I think you may be under-estimating the amount of "damage" that road salt will do to a freshly restored under-carriage of a DeLorean. I would Highly Recommend resisting the urge to "get it out on the road" right after an expected Winter Storm, in January, in Ohio.They're saying it looks more like flurries now, so with any luck there will be no salt. I guess it comes down to whether or not there will be salt on the roads. I can always drive it to work later in the week when the weather warms up again and the salt has cleared, then take everyone on rides next weekend.

only after Chapter 11 proceedings started did CFR re-claim the Leased Cars, which were stored at various car auction locations until they were finally sold (at least 6 months after the end of the lease, according to the lease contract). It is much more likely that any "grease pen" cave drawings were done at a QAC while some of the recalls and service bulletin work was being done, such as roof panel removal to seal up water leaks, etc. Many CFR cars were also "parts source cars" at QAC's before the lease deal was penned.If I'm understanding you correctly, you're saying it was the middle-man between DMC and CFR (being the QACs) that did the work of removing parts and also the cave painting underneath the T-panel. So my reasoning may still be correct, but the parties involved off on both counts. That would explain why the T-panel was removed to begin with.

As for parts identification, there are much better ways to confirm the vintage of early stainless steel panels on a DeLorean then relying on permanent marker cave drawings. Close inspection of the construction of the doors is a much better way to determine the vintage. Door stampings, slight design changes and construction techniques (including how they were welded together) changed throughout the production run, and it was these differences (and others) that determined passenger door vintage on VIN...559 (not just speculation).Exactly, the passenger door isn't original, but as best as anyone can tell, the driver's door is. My original question was whether or not the T-panel was, but a recall would explain why it was taken off, so perhaps the T-panel is original after all.

Just a side note, you can also tell by the door notches:

http://vin559.com/images/work_done/struts/notches.jpg

The one on the right is a later door (rounded triangle), and the one on the left is a modified early door (line with a triangle cut out, with the line protruding beyond the end).

may I ask you on what kind of OS you are coding? Linux?The Python part is coded on and deployed to Debian, and the Java part is deployed to Android but coded on Windows via the Android SDK, so the end result is two Linux machines. The Debian machine isn't nearly powerful enough to run Java, so I'm running the lightweight Python to compensate, which so far works like a charm!

Shep

01-19-2013, 11:24 PM

So I have a two-part update. On Thursday, we discovered that the headliners I bought from DMCH (front and rear) do not match in color. Both are dark grey, but evidently headliners made six months apart can vary quite a bit in color. I was warned about this by DMCMW, and admittedly did not take the time to visibly check when I brought the front headliner to DPI, but I would've thought the reproduction headliners were made to match the originals. Live and learn I guess.

Anyways, I didn't want to risk another color mismatch, so I asked Josh if he has any in stock he could use. He informed me that he covers the headliners upon request, and the turn-around time is generally a week. I checked the weather, and the 10-day forecast said it would snow on Tuesday, but be sunny and clear until Saturday (Sunday was just outside the 10 days). I realized it would be better weather if I waited until the following weekend, so I opted to go that route. So VIN 559 won't be coming home until the 26th (Saturday) or the 27th (Sunday). I just checked the same exact forecast today, and wouldn't you know it, the 10-day forecast says snow until next Saturday, and on Sunday it's sunny (but below freezing). So unless the forecast changes a third time, I have a feeling there will be salt on the roads, and the first drive may have to wait... Damn forecasters...

And on a completely unrelated note, I've been tossing a project idea around in my head for a while. As some of you know, I am a big BTTF fan. But I am also (obviously) a big DeLorean fan. I'm keeping mine stock (somewhere down the road perhaps there will be a second, converted D in my garage), but I'd still like to have some sort of BTTF tribute, in part to show that (even overdone) BTTF jokes are welcome, and in part as a nod to its history. I've been working on a 3D model prototype on Sketchup, using measurements I found. Please excuse the horrendously inaccurate DeLorean; I do not have accurate measurements nor do I really need them at this point. But at least it somewhat resembles a DeLorean.

Here's my work so far:

http://vin559.com/images/projects/bttf_vents/bttf_vents_sketchup_01.png

Crazy, I know! BTTF vents?! What in Great Scott's name is this?! Don't panic, I'm only adding, not modifying! That's the plan at least, I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull this off. Essentially, I'm looking to create a set of accurate-looking BTTF vents that will be held on by secure straps to the louvers. I got the idea from "Red", the painted DeLorean that did something similar with blue cardboard for a parade procession. Like his setup, when I lift the louvers, the vents will go with it. The difference is I'm hoping to reach a design that I can do highway speeds with. Insanity has set in...

There's two issues I need to address to pull this off: weight and aerodynamics. They cannot be overly heavy when the louvers are closed or when they're open, particularly important since I have the early louvers with the extremely thin spline, which are prone to breaking with excessive downforce. If designed correctly however, this should be more than possible to do. There's multiple ways I can design this, but ultimately I will have to do much testing to figure out the "right" way to structurally bypass the louvers. Whether they collapse at speed, are vented in the front, or simply rely on weight distribution of the engine cover for effect, it will have to be something truly reliable that won't pose a risk when attached. As a bonus, there might be residual cowl induction that may help ventilate the engine. Maybe.

I know many of you will advise against this, but keep in mind this is a long term project. I'd like to go with carbon fiber, but that stuff is ridiculously expensive, even for small quantities. And anyways, I have numerous other projects that precede the vents. It's only hypothetical until I can figure out a suitable design and get those other projects done, themselves taking a very long time to complete :wink:

In the meantime, I'll work on sketching out a design for my DeLorean-themed coffee table. It might take a year or two to finish, but it'll be soooo awesome when it's done :wiggle:

DMC5180

01-20-2013, 08:46 AM

Shep

01-20-2013, 06:59 PM

Just friendly word of advice. Please don't drive your investment on winter roads. An owner in the Chicago area delivery of a newly Refurbished DMCH car at his home. Apparently the car needed a little warranty work done to it. He drives it over to DMCMW the day after there had been snow fall in the area. Roads were clear but still wet pavement. It was a very short drive but the effects of even that short drive were saddening. White FROTH growing on newly plated or NOS components. I saw the car in Dave's shop and just shook my head in disbelief in what I saw. :facepalm:The only time in winter when I'll drive VIN 559 is when I've driven the day before in my daily driver, the roads are clear, and the forecast says no rain or snow. We had about a week of that kind of weather earlier this month, and I even saw multiple motorcycles driving on my commute to and from work. Then it got colder and snowier and that was the end of that, but if it happens again, it'll be perfect driving weather.

When I first bought it, the original plan was to drive her year-round as long as there was no salt on the roads, but that was before it even went to DPI. Now that the restoration/rebuild is almost done, I'll certainly be much more restrictive about when I drive it. Still might drive it in light rains/sprinkles every now and then (traction's only an issue in moderate rains), but definitely no salt.

SS Spoiler

01-20-2013, 09:33 PM

Very much agree with Dennis. My car was originally owned by a guy that lived in downtown Minneapolis. I'm sure he thought stainless steel body, fiberglass sub body and epoxy coated frame what can go wrong? He drove it year round on MN salty roads. Seven years later [1987] when I was totally bedazelled by the car I bought the first car I saw. Jacking up the car to do some minor touchup frame painting the jack broke through the front crossmember! Rust...not good. I was able to get a new frame from KAPAC [probably the first one they sold] and did a frame off. You can read all about it in an article "rust never sleeps" by Bruce Benson, in Delorean World.

Shep

01-20-2013, 10:59 PM

DMCMW Dave

01-20-2013, 11:40 PM

You can read all about it in an article "rust never sleeps" by Bruce Benson, in Delorean World.

Interesting - I remember that story but had no idea it was about your car!

thirdmanj

01-23-2013, 08:21 AM

Shep

01-23-2013, 01:11 PM

You can do the vents in cardboard. Laminate a few sheets together with glue, and cut them to the right dimensions and spray paint them black! You can cut a hook type mechanism into the cardboard vents so that they grab onto the louvres. If need be, you could also find a way to hook some short bungee cords around them for more stability if the car is to be driven with them on.Thanks for the tip! I had considered cardboard, but thought it would collapse too easily. Never thought about gluing multiple sheets together though. Looks like this might be the first project I work on then. The roads are going to have salt on them for a while, and I can get the supplies easily and cheaply. Sweet! :)

Shep

01-23-2013, 10:17 PM

Now that I've finally done this, I'll bring the subject up again: I finally got VIN 559 officially titled today! Major, major kudos to Josh for hauling it up to the DMV to have the Out of State Inspection it needed. Didn't even charge me a penny for it! :biggrin: He tried it earlier, but apparently they changed the way they do Out of State Inspections. In the past, Josh was able to title a bare-bones VIN'd underbody just by towing it on a trailer and having it inspected. But they no longer allow that kind of inspection, so it had to wait until now, when it's very close to being done.

I tried going yesterday to the same DMV that told me I needed an Out of State Inspection, but apparently that idiot that had me sign everything and told me about the inspection had to be done, and that location doesn't do titling. The lady we spoke to yesterday told us that was incorrect, and we'd need to go to a title bureau. I went today to the one in Parma, and was given number 69 to wait in line... Ignoring the adult tone to that number, I successfully got it titled! The lady I spoke to this time gave me a funny look in the beginning and said "it's going in his name?" "Yeah..." "How old are you?" "22" She was completely shocked that I was even old enough to get my temps, nevermind being able to drink. I've been getting that more and more lately. Very nice lady, and I opted for a Historical Vehicle plate, and they directed me across the parking lot to the License Bureau.

I walked into the License Bureau, and pulled a ticket. Exactly ten lower, so I got 59! How prophetic! That was a little more mundane of a visit, but long story short, I got a temporary license plate:

"EGULL"

I name all my cars after birds, and my DeLorean is no exception! My first car was named Phoenix, my current daily driver is called Bennu, and my DeLorean is now named Egull. I would've gone with "Eagle", but it was taken, so I got creative and decided to throw in a little DeLorean humor ("Gull" wing doors). "VIN 559" wasn't available unfortunately. Now it's time to call Hagerty and up the insured value!

Shep

01-28-2013, 10:49 PM

I've been keeping myself busy lately. I forgot to mention this in my last post, but last week I had almost the entire week off from work due to being sick with bronchitis, the first time in over seven years I've had anything more than an upset stomach. Not fun, and now I have to use an inhaler for a while until everything clears up. Oh joy...

So last week I kept myself preoccupied by working on that coffee table design I mentioned at the end of Post #143 (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4117-VIN-559-Captain-s-Log&p=87553&viewfull=1#post87553). I've had this idea in my head for a while, and just had to flesh out all the details. It'll essentially be a very compacted four-door DeLorean design. When any of the four doors are open, all the lights will light up via the use of "door ajar" sensors (probably magnetic, maybe mechanical). They will all be fused LED's, so there won't be any risk of fire damaging anything. I might even put EL lighting on the windows so I know which door (if any) are open, for troubleshooting purposes.

Here's some pictures:
http://vin559.com/images/projects/coffee_table/coffee_table_sketchup_01.png

http://vin559.com/images/projects/coffee_table/coffee_table_sketchup_02.png

http://vin559.com/images/projects/coffee_table/coffee_table_sketchup_03.png

(Shameless plug to avoid plagiarism :tongue: ) The point of this project? I currently don't have a coffee table in my "Bachelor Pad", although I do have a pretty good DeLorean theme going on. I've been using a trunk as a makeshift coffee table, but any time someone wants to get into it, the entire top has to be cleared off, not to mention it looks like ass now that the wood's degraded. So I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and make a coffee table myself. I'm thinking purely MDF board and acrylic, with a splash of paint mixed in.

Naturally, once this starts getting physically built, I'll make a dedicated thread for it so I don't clog up this one. It'll be a while though, so not quite yet. Stay tuned! :wink:

(Dyno testing and delivery is still this week, so a major update or two should be coming in the next few days! :giddy: )

Shep

02-15-2013, 12:16 AM

I went to DPI last Saturday! I know, five days late (technically six since it's after midnight). Things have been hectic around here, so this was the soonest I could post this. Anyways, I stopped by just as VIN 559 was being loaded up onto the trailer to go to the dyno shop. We picked up the last of the original parts and headed off. The shop was holding a class at the time, and none of them had seen a DeLorean running on the dyno. Everyone kept coming up to my dad and saying what an amazing car it was, and he kept having to tell them it was my car, to everyone's surprise! There wasn't a single person in that class that could believe it was mine. A few even mentioned they didn't know I was eligible for my temps yet! In three and a half months, I'll be turning 23, but I still look like I'm a freshman in high school. I've been getting this more and more recently, and this will only make ownership that much more fun!

Here's a video of the first run on the dyno:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_p1A6KNbfU

[Continued in next post]

Shep

02-15-2013, 12:18 AM

[Continued from previous post]

I thought it would just be the one, but there were actually several! I caught the rest on another video (missing the last one however -- I mean, I had to enjoy one of the runs, right?):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQSbMET4M8o

On this particular dyno, a stock DeLorean measures 70-75 HP at the wheels. Figuring a 15% powertrain loss in horsepower, this equates to roughly 81-86 HP at the crankshaft. With a DPI SPEC Exhaust and DPI performance camshafts, VIN 559 got 112 HP on the dyno! This equates to roughly 129 HP at the crankshaft, a 60% increase over stock!

Unfortunately, VIN 559 developed some transmission issues after the dyno tests. These tests were run in 2nd gear, and first gear was completely shot, so now the transmission needs a rebuild. After this is done, every single part of the rolling chassis with zero exceptions will have been restored, replaced, or upgraded. It was really an unknown, but apparently when it was driven on Pawn Stars with the failed transmission governor, it started the damage that necessitated this rebuild. Now that it's being rebuilt, I can trust that it'll be as reliable as the engine, and the rest of the drivetrain for that matter!

[permalink to VIN 559 blog post here (http://vin559.com/?27)]

Dangermouse

02-15-2013, 09:36 AM

"VIN 559" wasn't available unfortunately. !

that's very surprising.

Funny, I read EGULL as a shortened SEAGULL, rather than eagle.

Good to see that she is mobile again. :race:

Shep

02-15-2013, 11:51 AM

that's very surprising.

Funny, I read EGULL as a shortened SEAGULL, rather than eagle.

Good to see that she is mobile again. :race:Indeed! I misstated that part you quoted; "VIN 559" doesn't meet their formatting requirements since it's three letters followed by three digits. I'm thinking this may be the format for a randomly generated license plate for certain vehicles, but I cannot think of one that is three letters and three digits, and I can't seem to find one either :dunno:

I can see the seagull connection, but since both seagulls and eagles are birds, it still fits my pattern of naming my cars after birds. It's a mix between "Eagle" and "gull-winged". I always liked those vanity plates that make you stop and think about what they mean, and then you get a "Eureka!" moment when you figure it out. I'm hoping this is one of those plates, particularly for car guys.

Dangermouse

02-15-2013, 12:06 PM

Ah, I thought you meant that it was already taken.

refugeefromcalif

02-15-2013, 06:05 PM

I always liked those vanity plates that make you stop and think about what they mean, and then you get a "Eureka!" moment when you figure it out. I'm hoping this is one of those plates, particularly for car guys.
I've always loved vanity plates. (I have 3 on running my vehicles).
I've seen so many good ones over the years, some that I had think about, (Like you stated), some that were very much to the point.
The one that I always remember first, was on a Cadillac Escalade. It was, "YI WORK."

Congrats on being a Lot closer to getting Vin 559 home! It's a shame about the transmission but, you'll know everything is Good to Go when you get it home. :)

George

Shep

02-28-2013, 11:47 PM

We've hit a milestone! As of yesterday, this restoration has now been underway for eight months. Work started on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, so Wednesday, February 27, 2012 was the eight month mark. Same day of the week even! And after this revelation, I finally got off my lazy ass and spoke with my insurance company to insure it for what it's actually currently worth, instead of what I originally bought it for (which is what it's insured for now). I meant to do it weeks ago, but forgot... then when I was working from home two Fridays ago, but forgot again... then when I was working from home last Thursday, and forgot yet again... then I was going to do it pretty much any time I remembered, and kept forgetting until now. I really need to start using a "to do" list these days.

Good news: the transmission did not actually need a rebuild! Turns out the valve body just needed to be cleaned out, and now it shifts perfectly! Even better news: I believe Josh was aiming to finish everything up yesterday (so exactly eight months!), but delivery will have to wait until Saturday. If I lived in a well-lit area, I'd be perfectly fine with an earlier delivery, but living in "deer country", it's not exactly wise to be driving when you can't see the deer until he's halfway through your windshield. Hell just last weekend, my neighbor across the street had a dead deer in his lawn. Living right up against the national park doesn't help with that much. So I opted to wait until there was enough daylight to clearly see everything, and since I couldn't get a day off this week, that day will be Saturday!

I also have a surprise up my sleeve. I got a little something that should be arriving next week. One of those "personal touches", and after much googling, it seem's no one's done this before. Removable and fully reversible, but I doubt I'll be doing either. And no, it's not the BTTF vents, although those aren't too far off either! (Side note: I'm thinking of integrating brake lights into the removable BTTF vents via a plug, after Josh removed my third taillight for the louver repair. Kind of digging the stock look now, so I think I'll keep the third taillight with the rest of the DeLorean parts for later use in this project.)

Chris Burns

03-01-2013, 07:09 PM

Video of VIN 559 before restoration by DPI:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuD7wJmjMRs

Shep

03-02-2013, 11:31 PM

I hate to "steal the thunder" as it were of Chris' post on the previous page (especially since it's Pawn Stars), but we have an update!

Josh finished the restoration on Wednesday, February 27, 2013, eight months to the day from when he first picked it up (http://vin559.com/?8). I opted to hold off delivery until the weekend, so we could do it in daylight. An excellent choice, as it turned out, giving plenty of lighting for photo-op's! Here's some pictures from the delivery:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/resized/dpidelivery01_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/dpidelivery01.jpg)
http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/resized/dpidelivery02_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/dpidelivery02.jpg)
http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/resized/dpidelivery03_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/dpidelivery03.jpg)
http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/resized/dpidelivery04_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/dpidelivery04.jpg)
http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/resized/dpidelivery05_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/dpidelivery05.jpg)

(Brief side note: that last picture is now the wallpaper on my laptop!)

Once we got it in the garage, I had to take another look at the engine:

http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/resized/dpidelivery06_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/events/dpi/2013-03-02/dpidelivery06.jpg)

She's finally home again! I even got a couple videos of the process:

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

[Continued in next post]

Shep

03-02-2013, 11:32 PM

[Continued from previous post]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uDVR045F8E

We were originally going to do a demo today, where Josh would go over a ton of things about VIN 559, but he wants to make actually driving it part of the demo. Seeing clearly visible salt on the roads, I opted to hold off on driving it until the weather warms up. We're aiming for a demo next weekend!

I really have to learn how to shut my doors when the weather's cold. The struts (which Josh replaced to keep them pristine) could not support the full weight of the doors due to the temperature, so they were sagging and uncooperative in moving. When I first pulled it into the garage, I went to get out, and the door handle wouldn't do anything. Josh noticed the door wasn't closed fully, so he gave it a light pull and it popped right open. Then I closed the door from the outside and went to the passenger side. I noticed the yellow light on the driver's door was lit while I was on the passenger side. I hadn't closed the door fully then either! So I closed both doors with more force, and this time both closed and locked properly.

Exactly eight months of a frame-off restoration, and now she's home! That'll be easy to remember when I take VIN 559 to car shows.

[permalink to VIN 559 blog post here (http://vin559.com/?29)]

Domi

03-03-2013, 03:43 AM

Well after 8 months without her, you must be really happy to find her back!
You can drive it with confidence now, just enjoy it when the weather will be better!

Chris Burns

03-03-2013, 09:06 AM

I'm excited for you man! Congrats!!:race:

I bet you can't wait to drive it. I hope to see it someday (maybe at DCS2014!).

Shep

03-03-2013, 06:18 PM

Well after 8 months without her, you must be really happy to find her back!
You can drive it with confidence now, just enjoy it when the weather will be better!Absolutely! It's still sinking in that she's back and brand new :giddy:

The forecast is looking good for this weekend, so hopefully if all goes well she'll have her first official drive since about two and a half years ago (when Pawn Stars was filmed). Fingers crossed!

I'm excited for you man! Congrats!!:race:

I bet you can't wait to drive it.You can say that again! I'm very much looking forward to getting her out and driving her around, truly having "the DeLorean experience". Only Mother Nature stands in my way now! :biggrin:

I hope to see it someday (maybe at DCS2014!).VIN 559 and I will most certainly be at DCS 2014! It's only about three hours away, and being the biggest DeLorean gathering that close to me, it's a no brainer. I'm sooo there :)

vwdmc16

03-03-2013, 08:40 PM

I didnt realize the suspension was set so high. why didnt you have Josh lower it even a little?

Jacko

03-03-2013, 10:45 PM

Yeah, I noticed the front end was riding a little high. It'll relax a little after you drive her a bit. My car, 4915, is nearing completion and will be another eight month frame off
restoration ... it seems a lot longer than that. 4915 is notoriously low and Josh suggested he put his lowering kit on her instead of her 'home made' affair. I declined because I used several sets of springs to attain the ride height she has. It's pretty wierd but after I put the Spax shocks on and adjusted the rear lower, it raised the front a little which eliminated the fender rub phenomenon. Josh said he would pull off the shortened springs and powder coat them.

Josh's refurbishments are not for the faint of heart. After going over my car on July 27 He presented me with an invoice for the needed repairs. Understand I'm getting a galvanized frame, Spec II engine with ceramic coated headers and 'everything else' I like to say. My eyes had to bulge when I saw the bottom line. Josh does a good job of listing the work to be done and after going through the 9 (nine) pages I have to agree with that big number at the bottom. For a helluva lot of money I'm getting a helluva lot of work ... that's fair.

I got to wondering ... I guess my car was worth about $20K when I shipped her up there. If I put $50K into her would I have a $70K DeLorean?:dunno:

Shep

03-03-2013, 11:45 PM

I didnt realize the suspension was set so high. why didnt you have Josh lower it even a little?There's a few reasons for that. Originality mostly, but also because that's how I'm used to seeing her. Not to mention two giant-ass bumps on my route that any DeLorean with a lowering kit would scrape against almost every time. 3" of ground clearance is good enough for me :hihi:

Josh's refurbishments are not for the faint of heart. After going over my car on July 27 He presented me with an invoice for the needed repairs. Understand I'm getting a galvanized frame, Spec II engine with ceramic coated headers and 'everything else' I like to say. My eyes had to bulge when I saw the bottom line. Josh does a good job of listing the work to be done and after going through the 9 (nine) pages I have to agree with that big number at the bottom. For a helluva lot of money I'm getting a helluva lot of work ... that's fair.Couldn't agree more. Getting a frame-off restoration is certainly not cheap, but other than our resident drama queen Chad, I have heard no complaints about his work. Even just the peace of mind knowing my entire drivetrain is as pristine and reliable as can be is worth the money. I'm sure when I drive it for it's real maiden voyage, it'll be even more worth it. Money well spent.

I got to wondering ... I guess my car was worth about $20K when I shipped her up there. If I put $50K into her would I have a $70K DeLorean?:dunno:I would ask Josh about that. I know my value certainly shot up after the rebuild. Considering we pretty much had the same level of work done, I would certainly think the same applies to you as well :thumbup:

Shep

03-05-2013, 07:04 PM

I made a couple of discoveries today! I finally took the driver's door headliner off, and found this:

http://vin559.com/images/cave_paintings/resized/leftdoor_incontext_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/cave_paintings/leftdoor_incontext.jpg)

Closer look:
http://vin559.com/images/cave_paintings/resized/leftdoor_closeup_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/cave_paintings/leftdoor_closeup.jpg)

Er, didn't find. There's a few smudges on the right, but other than that, there was absolutely nothing written on this door. The weird part is that the passenger door has stuff written on it, but was replaced after the collapse of the company, and the driver's door has nothing written on it, but is original! If I had made bets before taking either off, I would've bet the opposite were true. Looking through the Cave Paintings thread, the next-earliest cave painting was VIN 1495 (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?3083-Cave-paintings-post-your-pics!&p=42395&viewfull=1#post42395), and even that had the infamous "Davy" and a sticker on it, plus tape marks of some kind. I've got absolutely nothing other than dust and production scratches.

Now to my second discovery: I had a theory about this being the case, but never had a good opportunity to verify it. I double-checked, and I have both kinds of side mirrors mounted -- smooth on the driver's door, and textured on the passenger door, which can be expected for one of the earliest doors being paired with one of the latest doors. It feels a bit different to the touch, and you can see the difference in the light very clearly. The imperfections are almost unnoticeable on the textured mirror, but all the imperfections on the smooth mirror are very obvious, which may be why they changed it. Textured fiberglass pontoons had production problems, but plastic does not fall victim to this. Neat little time capsule. I'm keeping it :)

And while I was studying the driver's door, I took a closer look at the slots for the striker pin. The rear slot is mostly symmetrical, but the front slot is definitely not so. Frankly it looks a little weird having a "Christmas Tree" shape, getting wider until it hits the guides, where it starts thin and gets wider again. It seems like the original owner first cut the notches, and then found out there was a part for it, so he used that instead. Gauging it by eye, if the slot was the same width all the way down, it would actually line up perfectly with the striker guides. I've decided that I want the notches "undone", similar to how the antenna holes are patched up on all the DMCH NOS right front fenders. I'll be getting a door alignment at DPI in the near future when the weather warms up and the struts actually cooperate, so I'm thinking while it's there, I can have the notches fixed. That way, the narrow notches are a part of the alignment, and not an afterthought. The passenger door will remain the wide version, providing a sort of side-by-side comparison of all the production differences each door had when opened.

Shep

03-10-2013, 01:08 AM

Today was the demo! Although now I realize I've been using the wrong word for it. It wasn't like a walkthrough for how to maintain a DeLorean like that implies. But I did drive it for the first time today! And then two more times! Josh stopped over and rode shotgun for the first one, making sure I knew how to drive it properly and didn't crash into a tree or anything. I decided to take a mini circuit of backroads that was mostly 45 MPH, with some 40 MPH mixed in. Of course, when they were cracking down on speeders in that area last year, I actually cut that entire city out of my route. Only takes two extra minutes and about one extra mile to get to work now that I've done that, but don't tell the cops that :shhh: Anyways, I now know where the whole "heavy and slow" myth comes from -- with manual steering, it takes much more force to turn the steering wheel when making turns, and it makes the car feel very heavy. Naturally you don't want to accelerate too fast in something that seems heavy, thus the "heavy and slow" myth was born. At least, that's my working theory. I'll probably always drive her like that just to be careful, except for on-ramps which I probably won't ever use anyways.

Then when we got back home, we stepped out and went over a few things. What kind of battery charger to get, the warranties and required service (3 month / 3,000 mile oil change, obviously being the former for me), the service records, planned returns to DPI for door alignments and stainless work (finally getting rid of the hood X that still catches my eye every now and then), stainless steel cleaner, how to wash it, Josh even made a quick fix for the passenger door light switch. Originally the screw was too loose and the lights didn't come on at all, but today they were on when the door was closed. Finally struck a balance between the two and it works like a charm!

Then I gave her a wash, which was very, very needed, and was honestly the first time any decent amount of water had ever touched her while in Ohio. I mean, I used wet paper towels when she came off the truck from Las Vegas, but after this wash, damn she is clean! Even used the stainless steel polish to make her shine. Then it was time to get gas! I noticed the gauge said there was about an eighth of a tank left when driving it, which we did so we could store it for the winter (keep the engine running until it runs out of gas, obviously much quicker to do on a nearly empty tank). But since the weather's warming up, I decided against winterizing and filled her up! My Dad rode shotgun for the trip. There was a FedEx delivery truck and a minivan at the gas station, but neither seemed to notice. I did use the gas flap for its intended purpose, completely validating the entire reason I sought that out in the first place.

On the way back, there was a group of guys standing in front of a house all facing the house. As we passed, my Dad noticed they all turned to look. Then there was a guy in an SUV that smiled and gave me a sort of "rock on" fist, which I didn't see, but my Dad did! First time she saw a decent amount of traffic, and already positive feedback from other drivers! Unfortunately, I don't have pictures or videos of my first drives like I was hoping to have. My Mom wasn't feeling too well, and my Dad wasn't quite home in time, but I'll always have the memories! And what amazing memories today was filled with! :giddy:

Side note: I think I have my first self-repair and first discreet modification lined up already: a new mirror switch, and changing the window switches. I checked the fuse for the mirror switch, and it (naturally) was blown. I replaced it, then went to adjust the mirrors, and the motor still wouldn't turn. Turned the key to accessory, then to ON, and still no movement. Although the switch is ridiculously loose in the escutcheon, so it could have just come unplugged, or is shorting out or something along those lines. I'll have to do some diagnosing. The window switches I'm simply turning 180 degrees. It just seems natural to me to press forward to raise the window and backward to lower the window on the kind of rocker switch a DeLorean uses. Every other car I've ever driven with horizontal window switches is set up that way, so naturally I'll be turning it around when I straighten out all the switches to make them level again. That'll make it more intuitive for me to do.

I still love how (tastefully!) loud she is, and the smell of a well-tuned cat-delete setup. Nothing beats the smell of a 70's muscle car. Kind of reminds me of what we call the "awooga cars" at Cedar Point [link (http://www.cedarpoint.com/rides/Family-Rides/Antique-Cars)], and she sounds and smells very similar!

[permalink to VIN 559 blog post here (http://vin559.com/?30)]

Shep

03-11-2013, 12:23 AM

Remember that "surprise up my sleeve" I mentioned in Post #159 (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4117-VIN-559-Captain-s-Log&p=92559&viewfull=1#post92559)? It arrived exactly a week later (as in last Thursday), and today I put it on! As mentioned, removable and fully reversible, but I doubt I'll be doing either. Really adds that "personal touch" I've been looking for.

Here's some pictures!

http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bezel/resized/puzzlebezel01_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bezel/puzzlebezel01.jpg)
http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bezel/resized/puzzlebezel02_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bezel/puzzlebezel02.jpg)
http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bezel/resized/puzzlebezel03_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bezel/puzzlebezel03.jpg)
http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bezel/resized/puzzlebezel04_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bezel/puzzlebezel04.jpg)

I was going to put it in the bumper letters as well, but realized the dark purple blends in a little too well with the black bumper, not to mention the pattern is too large to clearly make out there. I'll have to tweak the colors a bit, shrink it down, then get another set made. I already made paper templates of the letters that I can use when I cut the pattern out next time.

Pretty soon I'll be updating the header on VIN559.com to match this modification.

thirdmanj

03-11-2013, 08:08 AM

So ahh, http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/11/9e9atetu.jpg

louielouie2000

03-11-2013, 08:13 AM

So ahh, http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/11/9e9atetu.jpg

Autism awareness would be my guess.

thirdmanj

03-11-2013, 09:49 AM

Autism awareness would be my guess.

Yeah me too, but I didn't get the connection, and I didn't want to be a d!ck.

LEVY

03-11-2013, 09:53 AM

That is the easiest way to kill a Delorean!

LEVY

I also have a surprise up my sleeve. I got a little something that should be arriving next week. One of those "personal touches", and after much googling, it seem's no one's done this before.

I believe there is a good reason for that.

Shep

03-11-2013, 10:00 AM

Autism awareness would be my guess.Indeed it is! 1 in 88 people have it ;)

Shep

03-11-2013, 12:25 PM

That is the easiest way to kill a Delorean!So let me get this straight: completely ditching the stock exhaust and putting in a SPEC exhaust is perfectly fine, as is all the non-OEM stainless I added, not to mention putting angel eyes and LED's all around, hell even the cardboard BTTF vents got no complaints, yet a $30 removable sticker is "killing a DeLorean"? Good god, what do you call this thread (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?6468-Using-a-DeLorean-to-advertise-your-business) that talks about putting decals on the entire car?!

I believe there is a good reason for that.Because no one else that owns a DeLorean has autism? Seems like a pretty good reason to me :dunno:

thirdmanj

03-11-2013, 01:04 PM

I didn't realize you were autistic. Have you mentioned it before?

Shep

03-11-2013, 01:29 PM

I didn't realize you were autistic. Have you mentioned it before?I've never mentioned it to anyone before, here or otherwise. That was sort of an anticlimactic "coming out" if you will. I've been running from it for almost 23 years and finally decided to embrace it rather than hide from it.

If there's one thing I can ask of everyone though: don't treat me any different for it. I really just want to be "one of the guys," and that's why I never told anyone. Everyone that somehow found out treated me like a three-legged dog, catering to me like I required special attention or something. I don't want anyone catering to me or holding anything back, and frankly I'll be pissed if anyone does. Just view this as a status like "married" or "single", not as a disability like "quadriplegic". I don't care how I'm treated as long as it's equally, regardless of whether it's positive or negative. I'm just like everyone else, just wired a bit different! (My PO got inventive with the electrical system :hihi2: )

thirdmanj

03-11-2013, 01:59 PM

louielouie2000

03-11-2013, 01:59 PM

Because no one else that owns a DeLorean has autism?

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I've been in the community for a long time, and have found that DeLorean owners come in a surprising variety of packages. They encompass all ages, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, religions, races, political affiliations, economic classes, heights, weights, etc. I think it's awesome you'll be able to start a dialogue about autism through your DeLorean & educate some people in the process. :thumbup:

Shep

03-11-2013, 02:19 PM

Well, for what it's worth, you seem to be pretty high functioning. At least through your Internet postings and what not, it doesn't seem to be evident. You must handle it very well! Keep on keeping on man!Thanks! I am probably as high-functioning as they come. Official diagnosis was Aspergers (cue giggling at the name -- I still do). I actually went to a meeting with a bunch of guys with the same diagnosis late last year, and only one had a job, none of them drove, and none were interested in getting married, having kids, even dating. It was kind of depressing to see, but I realized how lucky I am to have gotten even halfway as far as I have. That's when the lightbulb went off and I decided to advertise it like that, with the hope that someone else like me will come across 559 and get the motivation to push themselves to achieve even greater. I was kind of pushed by my family rather than having someone else to motivate me, but others might not even have that.

It's a damn good thing I love the stainless, or I'd probably have the entire exterior done up like this :tongue:

EDIT:
Missed this post:

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I've been in the community for a long time, and have found that DeLorean owners come in a surprising variety of packages. They encompass all ages, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, religions, races, political affiliations, economic classes, heights, weights, etc. I think it's awesome you'll be able to start a dialogue about autism through your DeLorean & educate some people in the process. :thumbup:Thanks! That's the game plan :wiggle:

tjd

03-11-2013, 02:51 PM

It's a damn good thing I love the stainless, or I'd probably have the entire exterior done up like this

You could always have the car vinyl wrapped.

Shep

03-11-2013, 03:16 PM

You could always have the car vinyl wrapped.But then it would cover the stainless, one of my two favorite things about DeLoreans! (The other obviously being the gullwing doors.)

Although, now that I think about it, the black side marker trim might be another option... As would the tall, skinny pseudo-vents just behind the doors... I think I'll wait until after the door alignment and stainless work before I start thinking about those two. For now, the bezel and the bumper letters are good enough for me! :)

Another thought: making a one-off flat grille replacement that I can vinyl wrap, keeping the original safely stored away. That one would be long-term due to complexity, and I'd also have to see how well the vinyl holds up to the heat of the brights in the event that I would need to use them. Then I could truly recognize my DeLorean from every angle! ;)

Shep

03-12-2013, 11:55 PM

I got a little bit of work done tonight. Building on the previous post, I noticed the windshield trim would be a good spot for a vinyl decal. The goal for me is to only do areas on the exterior that are easily replaceable, so that in the event that I want to "dress down" and take the decals off, it's just a matter of swapping the appropriate parts. That's why I started with the license plate bezel -- mine was in rough shape (and missing one of the license plate brackets I might add), and swapping it is just a matter of unscrewing the current one, moving the license plate, and screwing the new one back on. Bumper letters are the exclusion since there's really no way to easily remove those. I'm thinking I'll use sticky-tack and toothpicks to make 100% sure I get it lined up exactly right once I cut out the letters correctly. Gluing stiff and engineered stainless letters into each recess is much easier than attaching peel-n-stick flexible vinyl to the same area.

I've been kind of bummed with the weather so far this week. It was raining almost nonstop Monday, today it rained in the morning, but finally dried up in the afternoon, tomorrow it's going to snow all day, the day after it'll be sunny but below freezing, and Friday's weather is anyone's guess at this point. I don't think I'll get to drive her until at least next week. But that doesn't mean I can't work on her in the meantime! I did two projects tonight.

Here's the first:

http://vin559.com/images/work_done/garage/resized/garage_parking_ball01_640.jpg (http://vin559.com/images/work_done/garage/garage_parking_ball01.jpg)

This is our parking system. We invented (stole?) it for my Mom after one too many bumps with the garage door behind and wall in front. Basically we nail a string to the ceiling, and at the other end attach a wiffle golf ball. We adjust the height so that when the ball hits the windshield, you're centered front-to-back in the garage space. Since our Jag occupies the other space, and Hagerty requires VIN 559 to be garaged, my Mom is now parking out in the driveway and my DeLorean is picking up residence in the garage. Hilariously enough, at the original height the ball was adjusted for, it was about a foot over the roof of a DeLorean. Needless to say, this wouldn't work. So I grabbed another whiffle golf ball, some more string, and created an "extension" to properly park a DeLorean. The reason I did an extension rather than redo the entire thing was because a) I'm lazy, and b) when we finally get a three-car garage, I can take off just the extension and not have to worry about readjusting for my Mom's car again. But it was mostly a) I'm lazy. It took all of three minutes to do the extension, compared with at least ten maneuvering on a ladder.

Then I took care of another project! When I was washing the front of VIN 559 this past Saturday, I noticed there was some blue paint on the grille and black part of the bumper. I remembered seeing them before, and wasn't sure where, so I asked Josh what the best way to remove it would be. As I thought about it, I remembered the first time I saw them was sitting in my garage right in front of it, so obviously it was pre-DPI and thus happened prior to my purchase. Josh suggested a citrus-based cleaner, so I grabbed Goo Gone and a paper towel, and after letting the Goo Gone soak for a minute or two, I started wiping with the paper towel. After repeating this a few times, slowly but surely, it came off! Now only a small drop remains, located in between the grille vents where the paper towel didn't want to go. Perhaps another time I'll try further, but for now I'm satisfied with the result.

Next on the list: diagnosing the mirror issue. Fuse #9 was blown, so I replaced it, and the mirrors still don't want to work. I'll have to check the fuse again to see if there's a short somewhere, but the mirror switch is very loose in the escutcheon, so one or more wires may have pulled loose (and possibly are contacting metal or themselves somewhere). This Saturday's the Cleveland Autorama, but afterward (and on Sunday) I'll investigate further to see if I can figure it out. I'll be picking up a battery disconnect switch while I'm there. I've had one on my Civic now for about 5,000 miles with no ill effects other than losing radio settings and presets when using it, and our Jag's got one as well, so needless to say I'll be using one for VIN 559. It's much easier than grabbing a wrench and unscrewing the bolt, and avoids shorting the terminals by not being careful (which I've actually done before believe it or not). Two upcoming projects, both hopefully being done this weekend!

thirdmanj

03-13-2013, 08:12 AM

I love the tennis ball trick. I use it in my garage too.

LEVY

03-13-2013, 04:16 PM

I love the tennis ball trick. I use it in my garage too.

Yes, tennis ball. This is the first time I see someone using a golf ball, not good, specially if you own a Delorean with a stock windshield!

Back to the tennis ball, about 20 years ago, I saw one of my relatives had the tennis ball attached to his garage door, that way when the garage door is closed and no car inside, the tennis ball will be up to the ceiling and out of your way.

LEVY

Dangermouse

03-13-2013, 04:23 PM

Yes, tennis ball. This is the first time I see someone using a golf ball, not good, specially if you own a Delorean with a stock windshield!LEVY

It's only a wiffle golf ball :)

http://www.golfcircuit.com/art/other/pball.jpg

Back to the tennis ball, about 20 years ago, I saw one of my relatives had the tennis ball attached to his garage door, that way when the garage door is closed and no car inside, the tennis ball will be up to the ceiling and out of your way.

LEVY

That's pretty high tech, right there :rofl:

Dangermouse

03-13-2013, 04:33 PM

LEVY

03-13-2013, 05:52 PM

It's only a wiffle golf ball :)

http://www.golfcircuit.com/art/other/pball.jpg

That's pretty high tech, right there :rofl:

I see it now!

Yes, that is 20 years old technology!

LEVY

Shep

03-14-2013, 12:17 AM

I love this thread. Great that you have the car back.

Can I make a request though. Probably more of vin599.com, than this thread in particular.

I view the forum using Tapatalk a lot. When I view a post that has a few pictures in it (pictures that have been uploaded to dmctalk) and I click on one of the thumbnails to view, TT opens a pop-up that shows the photo as 1 of 5 (or whatever number of pictures are in that post and subsequent posts). The picture opens quickly and then I can scroll through the rest of the pics quickly too.

However, because all of your pictures are hosted on vin559.com, when I click on the thumbnail, firstly it only opens that picture and secondly it takes foooooorever to do so. I’m not sure why that is, as the pictures aren’t that big. Should I wish to look at the next picture, I must close the first and reload the next one. Invariably I give up halfway through the first download, and wait until I get to a PC.

As you are a professional programmer, is there anything you can do on the vin559.com site that might help this? No big deal if you can't, but I know you enjoy challenges :)I've actually been thinking off and on about a gallery function of some sort, but never could figure out how to design it. The problem I was facing was how to design it for car shows, which wouldn't have all the pictures posted outside the gallery, but now that I know how Tapatalk works, I have an idea for how to go about doing it. Although I will say that clicking on the image links you directly to the full-size image, which is about 3648x2736 and on average about 2 MB. I suspect the thumbnails on Tapatalk are actually smaller versions of the already-smaller 640x480 versions I post, so clicking them bypasses the smaller versions entirely and skips to the large image. This is probably more a design flaw in Tapatalk, but that being said, I can design around that so that it links to a gallery rather than the full-size image in the future.

In line with the rest of VIN559.com, I will design it to be as low-tech as possible, so older devices will still be able to view it without any issues. I just had that epiphany moment where I see the complete finished product in my head, so now I'm feverishly taking notes before I forget it all come morning. It's never failed me yet, and it always works perfectly every time! :wrenchin:

Shep

03-28-2013, 12:37 AM

So I have a partial update on multiple fronts. For the past few days, I've been installing the set of angel eyes I got. The headlights are secured in the buckets, and the angel eye wiring is partially laid down. Just tonight I turned them on, and the headlights work! The angel eyes aren't quite wired up yet. I'm going to run a wire from the fusebox to an on/off switch from DMCH that replaces the dummy switch to the left of the driver's window switch, then down to the lambda counter, where it gets hooked up to a relay that triggers the lambda light to turn on whenever the angel eyes are on. I'll rewire it so the light remains on at all times regardless of key position after I switch it to LED's, but I'm anal retentive about scheduled maintenance at mileage intervals, so the intended function of the lambda light is useless to me. From there, it goes through the same opening that the trunk release cable goes through, down the gas tank spout cover, under the trunk mat, into the jack storage compartment, through the rivnut (I removed two bolts for that), then it meets up with the rest of the wiring. Still have to figure out a ground, but I'm going to ditch the wire way before it gets into the cabin. No point making things more complicated than they have to be.

Back to my last picture update: the puzzle pattern for the bumper letters shipped yesterday and should arrive here tomorrow. I'm in the process of designing the pattern for the side trim (in line with the door handle and side marker lights, and including the former), and also for the grille. I made a plexiglass grille that I'll be securing to the front fascia with some sort of bracket, and it will feature the signature DMC logo in the front. The timing's perfect though since that logo will be cut out, made diffuse, then I'll hook up some LED's to light it up when the angel eyes come on. The wiring for that will be a snap. Really the hardest part will be mounting everything, since I'll have to fabricate a mount to secure the LED's and the grille itself. And, naturally, I'm going with security bolts to hold it in place (spanner or tri-wing or such), with a driver in the glovebox so it can be easily removed as long as there is access to the cabin. Wouldn't want to have a wiring problem on the road with no way to assess the damage!

And last on the list, something I changed my mind about. I originally wanted to have the driver's door made "correct" for the door alignment, removing the striker guides and changing the wedge opening to a slot opening. Josh gave me a metaphorical wake-up call as to how difficult and expensive it would be to get that just right, and that's when it hit me: all this time I've been assuming the original owner made those modifications, but now I realize this may very well be part of the CFR ordeal. The passenger door and windshield were both removed and left off for up to two years. Considering even the factory had a jig to secure the roof while the windshield was replaced, it's not farfetched to believe there was some warping over time, and the exact alignment needed for the driver's door could easily have been thrown off as a result. When a new passenger door was added back on, it most likely opened and shut perfectly fine, but the driver's door may not have fared so well. I suspect it was here that the slot was cut into a wedge, and the striker guide was added. Since it now appears to be part of the whole CFR ordeal, just like every other non-standard modification that happened during that time frame (rear window, fender antenna, rearview mirror), I'm keeping it as-is.

One side note: I think I can narrow down two things about 559 that make it a 1 of 1 deal. I believe it may be the only DeLorean missing a door sill VIN plate but having a fender antenna. Strangely, based on pictures the Texas DeLorean club has here (http://www.citizenkidd.com/DMC/pages/vins.asp?start=500&stop=600), VIN plates started somewhere around 551, included 556, skipped over 559 (:hmm:), was painted entirely black on 569, and resumed on 570. Assuming there's some sequential order to this, that leaves at most 60 DeLoreans without door sill VIN plates (503-550, 557-568), and if I were a betting man, I'd wager that only mine has a fender antenna.

Don Camillo

03-28-2013, 02:53 PM

I'd wager that only mine has a fender antenna.

VIN 573 had the fender antenna as well. Actually VIN 573 had all 3 types of antenna from the factory, or at least form DMC in Irvine. As VIN 573 was also cannibalised like 559 my guess would be, that at one point the early cars get lost of their factory installed window glass including the window antenna. Later somebody added a windshield to get the car back on the road. And as the reception on the windshield antenna was bad, the next step was to go for the fender antenna. In the case of VIN 573 it was different that VIN 559. VIN 573 was used as a company car by one of the managers at DMC in Irvine starting summer of 1981. They added all the service recalls to the car and tested the stuff on VIN 573, also the rear fender antenna. Strange stories are coming with the early cars 8)

Best wishes
Don

Rich W

03-28-2013, 04:27 PM

One side note: I think I can narrow down two things about 559 that make it a 1 of 1 deal. I believe it may be the only DeLorean missing a door sill VIN plate but having a fender antenna. Strangely, based on pictures the Texas DeLorean club has here (http://www.citizenkidd.com/DMC/pages/vins.asp?start=500&stop=600), VIN plates started somewhere around 551, included 556, skipped over 559 (:hmm:), was painted entirely black on 569, and resumed on 570. Assuming there's some sequential order to this, that leaves at most 60 DeLoreans without door sill VIN plates (503-550, 557-568), and if I were a betting man, I'd wager that only mine has a fender antenna.

I think you are basing your assumptions about the 500 series cars on too little data, since VIN...562 has a door sill VIN plate.

As it has been documented elsewhere, by several sources, the 500 series DeLoreans were not built sequentially, so there is no
evidence that the VIN plates were installed sequentially or even as the cars were actually considered completed.

LEVY

03-28-2013, 09:55 PM

I think you are basing your assumptions about the 500 series cars on too little data, since VIN...562 has a door sill VIN plate.

As it has been documented elsewhere, by several sources, the 500 series DeLoreans were not built sequentially, so there is no
evidence that the VIN plates were installed sequentially or even as the cars were actually considered completed.

Yes, and according to his rules, 559 is the most unique out of the 500's series.

LEVY

Shep

03-28-2013, 11:45 PM

Yes, and according to his rules, 559 is the most unique out of the 500's series.What the hell is your problem, honestly? If you don't like the things I post, you don't have to post about it, and you certainly don't have to read it. I've made a point to stop interjecting 559 into other threads, so everything is contained to this thread alone. Is it really a cardinal sin to be proud of my car? Just because you don't have anything to be proud of with your car doesn't mean you have to be a jackass to anyone who is, and that's really all you've done in this thread. It's perfectly acceptable for me to be as big an enthusiast about my own DeLorean as I am, and you about yours. Although seeing as you can't even be arsed to post your VIN in the sidebar of your posts and don't have a thread going, it's fairly obvious you're not, and instead choose to be a douchebag to anyone and everyone. News flash: some of us actually give a damn about our DeLoreans.

It is the only 500 series DeLorean with a SPEC exhaust, that is a fact. It's quite possibly the only one with a stainless steel coolant bottle. It's one of only two 500 series DeLoreans that was an unassigned company car, again fact, and it was the only one of those two driven on national TV. It's the only 500 series DeLorean that came with a handwritten letter from CFR proving its company car status, which I have not yet found to be sent to anyone else on any VIN range. Within a week it'll be the only 500 series DeLorean with angel eyes, and not too long after that the only one with cupholders. It will also be the only 500 series DeLorean with an amp of any sort installed, and a sub to boot. Long term it'll be the only 500 series DeLorean with door poppers and an anti-theft system, not to mention BTTF vents. After that, it'll be the only 500 series DeLorean with carbon fiber.

Now tell me, how exactly is it not unique?

thirdmanj

03-29-2013, 06:29 AM

What the hell is your problem?...only one this, only one with angel eyes, only one that...what's not unique?

I'm not sure what you mean by "angel eyes".

Btw, I like the 559 blog.

tjd

03-29-2013, 06:38 AM

What the hell is your problem, honestly? If you don't like the things I post, you don't have to post about it, and you certainly don't have to read it. I've made a point to stop interjecting 559 into other threads, so everything is contained to this thread alone. Is it really a cardinal sin to be proud of my car? Just because you don't have anything to be proud of with your car doesn't mean you have to be a jackass to anyone who is, and that's really all you've done in this thread. It's perfectly acceptable for me to be as big an enthusiast about my own DeLorean as I am, and you about yours. Although seeing as you can't even be arsed to post your VIN in the sidebar of your posts and don't have a thread going, it's fairly obvious you're not, and instead choose to be a douchebag to anyone and everyone. News flash: some of us actually give a damn about our DeLoreans.

It is the only 500 series DeLorean with a SPEC exhaust, that is a fact. It's quite possibly the only one with a stainless steel coolant bottle. It's one of only two 500 series DeLoreans that was an unassigned company car, again fact, and it was the only one of those two driven on national TV. It's the only 500 series DeLorean that came with a handwritten letter from CFR proving its company car status, which I have not yet found to be sent to anyone else on any VIN range. Within a week it'll be the only 500 series DeLorean with angel eyes, and not too long after that the only one with cupholders. It will also be the only 500 series DeLorean with an amp of any sort installed, and a sub to boot. Long term it'll be the only 500 series DeLorean with door poppers and an anti-theft system, not to mention BTTF vents. After that, it'll be the only 500 series DeLorean with carbon fiber.

Now tell me, how exactly is it not unique?

Wow.

tjd

03-29-2013, 06:59 AM

I'm not sure what you mean by "angel eyes".

+1

I'm having a hard time visualizing what your DeLorean is going to look like with all these mods your describing.

thirdmanj

03-29-2013, 07:13 AM

+1

I'm having a hard time visualizing what your DeLorean is going to look like with all these mods your describing.

You should have left your original post the way it was. You were respectful in your criticism.

LEVY

03-29-2013, 10:25 AM

What the hell is your*...................

Hold your horses!

First, I posted my opinion on another thread, again, I posted my opinion based on what I know, beleve me, I know the law very well, more aboutt that later!

To that opinion, you answered:

The hell? Since when..................

That answer of yours was uncalled for. It was not even a thread started by you. When I answer something like that, specially if I'm answering to a well respected member of this forum like the O.P of that thread, I'm very careful of what I answee. Check my wording .

I can understand you bragging all the time, 14 yo kids like yoursef do it all the time, well not all but some.

I still have to see any other member of this forum bragging at least 2% of what you do.

According to Ohio law, if a vehicle had a catalytic coverter from factory, no one should remove it, expect some fines soon. Now, I'm expecting an smart answer from you.

LEVY

DrJeff

03-29-2013, 11:31 AM

Shep

03-29-2013, 10:49 PM

Thanks Jeff! It's going to take years for me to rack up 30,000 miles, so I figure I might as well put it to good use. Hopefully I can figure out how to bypass the binnacle wiring so it's constantly on once I convert to LED's. Worst case scenario someone calls me and asks what the light means. I'm trying to figure out how I can change the wording from "Lambda" to something meaningful, but I'm not sure how accessible the ink is for me to do that. That I'll need to research more.

Hold your horses!So you have a personal vendetta against me because I'm proud of my car? That's basically what you're saying. Again, it's all confined to this thread, and it's my thread dammit, I'll post whatever the hell I want. I've dreamed of owning a DeLorean since high school, and it took me five years to finally be able to afford one, and another before I ever drove it. I'm allowed to feel like I've actually accomplished something with my life. Don't you feel that when you look at your car? Maybe you don't vocalize it, but surely you feel some sense of achievement when you look in your garage? That's what I feel, I just tend to be the outspoken one as I'm sure you've gathered by now. You are perfectly entitled to start a thread of your own and post about your car. Nothing's stopping you. You had just much an opportunity to buy my car as every other member of this forum. Don't go taking a piss on my parade just because you chose not to.

I still have to see any other member of this forum bragging at least 2% of what you do.Again, early on I will admit I went way overkill interjecting my DeLorean whenever the opportunity arose, but when I realized this several months ago, I made a point to only post about it in this thread. I still post about work I've done (such as in the Angel Eyes thread), but nothing specific to my DeLorean, the history, etc., even though I have been tempted to on many occasions (the Engine Cover Latch thread comes to mind). I know I came off as a pretentious jerk early on, and maybe some of that still resonates with you, but I've made a point since then not to do that outside of this thread. (And honestly, that part you called me out on wasn't intended as bragging, just an observation I made when talking with someone else that I thought I'd share. That's all.)

And just to satisfy you, I've changed my avatar, which came from this work I did today:

http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bumper_letters/resized/puzzlebumperletters01_640.jpg
http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bumper_letters/resized/puzzlebumperletters02_640.jpg

(As per Dangermouse's request, I'm not linking to the full-size :) ) The decal arrived yesterday, but today was the first day I had off. The first few letters didn't quite fit inside the borders since my test-fitting system was off, but the last ones are perfect. Still very satisfied with the result. Looks much brighter than before, and if any of the letters fall off, I have a backup to cut them from.

LEVY

03-29-2013, 10:56 PM

And just to satisfy you, I've changed my avatar............

Nothing wrong with your old avatar but, this one looks great!

By the way, I don't own a Delorean!

LEVY

Shep

03-29-2013, 11:21 PM

By the way, I don't own a Delorean!Get out of here, seriously?! :wow: Wow, I could've sworn I've read you talking about it, even posting the VIN somewhere. All this time I thought you just didn't want to share the VIN publicly like a few other members. I apologize, I honestly thought you owned one. I may be 22, but I have the memory of a 90-year-old Alzheimer's patient at times...

Dangermouse

03-29-2013, 11:53 PM

Re:photos-perfect to look at on a phone. Good job on the technical change and on the letters.

Shep

03-29-2013, 11:57 PM

Re: photos-perfect to look at on a phone. Good job on the technical change and on the letters.I hate to disappoint you, but the only thing I changed was not making the pictures link directly to the full-size :) (Which confirms my theory on the way Tapatalk works.) Still working on the gallery function; haven't done much work since I laid out the original plans.

Dangermouse

03-30-2013, 12:20 AM

Shep

03-30-2013, 12:33 AM

Well they now work like any other uploaded pic on here.

If you recall, I noted that they took forever to load and also that they had to be opened individually. In your above post, I opened the first one (quickly) and then was able to simply scroll to the second one. Tapatalk shows a little filmstrip type thing at the bottom of the picture showing tiny thumbnails of all the remaining photos in the thread.

Whatever you did, it worked a charm :)Maybe it'll be better for me to add text links to the blog posts here and leave the linkable pictures to the blog itself. I'll have to make a note of that, I'm going to be posting another blog post soon anyways, and won't have the gallery done in time for it.

Dangermouse

03-30-2013, 12:39 AM

Honestly, what you have at the moment is perfect.

Shep

03-30-2013, 12:46 AM

Honestly, what you have at the moment is perfect.Precisely why I'll add text links beneath each image (as in -->this link right here (http://dmctalk.org/)<--, something like "[Link to full size (http://dmctalk.org/)]") rather than using the old system. That way, clicking the image in Tapatalk brings up the small size and they're viewable the same way you viewed those last ones, but for the large size you can click a link underneath the image in the post and go straight to it if so desired.

Dangermouse

03-30-2013, 11:05 AM

Gotcha.

Generally, I'm not a fan of those embedded links, but I think this would work well.

LEVY

03-30-2013, 06:57 PM

Get out of here, seriously?! :wow: Wow, I could've sworn I've read you talking about it, even posting the VIN somewhere. All this time I thought you just didn't want to share the VIN publicly like a few other members. I apologize, I honestly thought you owned one. I may be 22, but I have the memory of a 90-year-old Alzheimer's patient at times...

No Alzheimer's as yet, actually I bought three Deloreans for my son, one of them grey charcoal colored, non of those are mine.

LEVY

Shep

03-31-2013, 01:09 AM

Finally got the Angel Eyes working today! This project is more for practicality than for aesthetics. Since the Angel Eyes are LED's, which produce zero heat, the minimal eyebrowing I currently have won't get worse when I drive it to and from work. Here in Ohio, some form of a headlight must be on when you're using your wipers, whether low beams, high beams, foglights, or daytime running lights. Angel Eyes qualify as daytime running lights, so if there's a light rain when I'm out and about, I don't have to worry about turning on the headlights. I'll probably use them more when it's just before dawn or just after dusk, which is not uncommon this time of year.

I'm actually quite pleased with the units I got. They're quite bright, even during daylight, and it's very nice to have the option of replacing the headlight bulbs with run-of-the-mill H4's rather than having to track down an increasingly rare sealed beam 4x6 before I can drive it next. Here's a picture I took with plenty of ambient light (i.e. no flash!):

http://vin559.com/images/work_done/angel_eyes/resized/angeleyes01_640.jpg
[click for full size (http://vin559.com/images/work_done/angel_eyes/angeleyes01.jpg)]

And a closeup of the passenger side:

http://vin559.com/images/work_done/angel_eyes/resized/angeleyes02_640.jpg
[click for full size (http://vin559.com/images/work_done/angel_eyes/angeleyes02.jpg)]

You can see the very temporary grounding solution I came up with to test the lights out, attaching the ground wire to the stainless steel body. I left plenty of wire to source another suitable ground in the trunk compartment. The priority right now is getting the interior put back together -- the center console is in a state of much disassembly, required for me to route the wires properly from the Angel Eyes all the way to the interior and to the fusebox, tapping off the Cigarette lighter and clock fuse with its own one-amp inline fuse (twice what it peaks at).

It switches on and off with a switch DMC Houston sells, mimicking the look of the "dummy switch" beside each window switch, but mimicking the function of the center defroster switch. The switch has three blades, but all three connect and disconnect together, which provides the groundwork for hooking it directly up to the "Lambda" light and bypassing the ignition switch entirely once I upgrade the binnacle to LED's. For now I need to run another wire from the switch to somewhere up near the binnacle and tape it off, so I don't have to disassemble everything again just to gain access. At that point phase one will be reached!

[permalink to VIN 559 blog post here (http://vin559.com/?30)]

(And yes, I've got "X" hood. It'll be fixed when I have some other stainless steel work done as well. Everyone else tells me they can't see it, but I always do; is it any wonder why?)

Domi

03-31-2013, 04:30 AM

That's awesome ;)

Shep

04-02-2013, 12:35 AM

So two updates tonight. Neither of them April Fool's jokes (my apologies to Josh for warning him without following through). The Angel Eyes are properly grounded now, and they still illuminate properly. I did just want to note that I put an inline 1A fuse directly on the fuse I tapped off of (clock and cigarette lighter, not that big of a loss if the fuse blows considering how little I use them), two inches away, then extended the wiring from there, so any wires coming undone and shorting out will be protected, with four backup fuses in the glovebox. I did not, however, follow DCUK Martin's advice (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?937-H4-conversion-questions&p=10617&viewfull=1#post10617), so the brights are getting a little bit of feedback when the headlights are on. I'll work on swapping the black and white/blue wires to fix that later, for now the angel eyes are more than sufficient. The damnedest thing is that I explicitly knew to look out for this, and visibly inspected the old sealed beam units and the H4's I was installing to see where the wires came out, and close inspection seemed to indicate they were wired the same way. Strange.

The second part: the discussion above with Levy got me thinking, and my train of thought traveling from Buffalo to Syracuse wound up way off-course in San Francisco (metaphorically speaking of course). I'm thinking maybe I'm approaching the "marketing" aspect wrong. I'll be taking 559 to car shows, giving mini-overviews when asked at gas stations or such, just like every DeLorean owner should do, but maybe "VIN559.com" isn't the right approach here. While it's easy enough to say "one minute before 6 o'clock", by the time they get home, some will inevitably think "was that 7 o'clock or 8 o'clock?" and not be able to find it. If they're lucky and they remember my license plate, they can find me from that, but not everyone will. Really it's only family and a few friends that are interested in my blog as of now, but purely because they know the guy who owns it. No one else outside the DeLorean community and people who know me give a damn other than to figure out if that's the one they saw.

I'm thinking I have this completely back-asswards. I've already "outed" myself with an avatar to match, and have covered my license plate bezel and bumper letters in the puzzle pattern (with patterns for the side trim, B-pillar "pseudo-vent" trim, and one-off plexiglass grille arriving in roughly a couple weeks, and with windshield trim in the planning stages). When someone sees my DeLorean, they're not going to remember "VIN 559" for anything, nor will it have any meaning for them. What they will remember however is my license plate of "EGULL" and the puzzle pattern. I know there's a pink DeLorean for breast cancer research, so why not brand mine as the puzzle DeLorean for autism awareness? An "autistic DeLorean" if you will. I'm debating various ideas for a domain name change to accommodate this, with all existing links on VIN559.com redirecting verbatim to their counterparts on whatever new domain I go with. I'm thinking "TheAutisticDMC.com" or something of that nature. This could open a lot of doors, but it could close a lot of doors as well (then again, any closed doors are for the better -- I ain't dealing with nobody that's apprehensive about it). I'm still debating this one.

And on the crazy side of things, I had a hypothetical idea that I will honestly have to do more research on. I love the leather seats (here it comes), but the interior is the only part that won't have the puzzle pattern on it. Naturally, since my driver's seat is starting to show signs of wear (low mileage but evidently much sitting!), I'll be interested in getting new seat covers soon. This had me thinking: what if I moved the puzzle pattern into the cabin, starting with the seats? Naturally this would require a very specialized upholstery shop to be able to dye automotive-grade leather like this, who may not even exist (and initial research seems to indicate this). But if they do exist, that's an avenue I'd like to pursue. Of course, I would change the pattern up a bit for the interior. The current pattern I've been using looks roughly yellow-green from a distance, however this is the last color I would want in the interior. I'm thinking focusing on red, blue, white, yellow, pretty much leaving green entirely out of the equation. And the pieces would be roughly the size of the ones on the rear license plate bezel (and, soon, the grille), although probably a bit larger. Again, something very hypothetical that will need much more research (and, if I go forward with it, money too).

Weather sucks for tomorrow, but if the roads are clear when I'm driving home, I'll be driving her to work for the first time on Wednesday!

thirdmanj

04-02-2013, 06:54 AM

I find this puzzle pattern obsession puzzling.

DrJeff

04-02-2013, 08:59 AM

...I'm thinking "TheAutisticDMC.com" or something of that nature.

Just something to consider... as said in the Facebook movie... "lose the the". It was originally going to be TheFacebook.com.

Cool idea.

Shep

04-02-2013, 01:10 PM

I find this puzzle pattern obsession puzzling.Nice :hihi2:

I think it's kind of like SS Spoiler or Will.I.Am in the sense that their DeLoreans have unique features that make them instantly recognizable as being theirs. More of a trademark than an obsession, so to speak ;)

Just something to consider... as said in the Facebook movie... "lose the the". It was originally going to be TheFacebook.com.

Cool idea.I intentionally did that so web crawlers wouldn't read it and jack the price up after registering it, or worse, make it unavailable entirely. I've had that happen in the past on unrelated ventures. Definitely no "the" in the final domain :thumbup:

thirdmanj

04-02-2013, 03:02 PM

I guess I just feel owning a DeLorean is unique enough as it is. But to each his own. As long as you're content, life is good.

DrJeff

04-03-2013, 12:19 AM

Finally got the Angel Eyes working today!

Did you happen to use the angle eye kits that are listed on eBay for $135?

Shep

04-03-2013, 12:11 PM

Quick note: I'll be making another blog post tonight. I drove Egull to work, the first time I've ever parked her and left her unattended when not at home. I haven't yet posted pictures of the decals on the blog, and no one knows what they mean, so much of that post will be information repeated earlier in this thread. I apologize in advance for any deja vu I cause.

Did you happen to use the angle eye kits that are listed on eBay for $135?I got some off of Amazon that were much better quality than the stuff they sell on eBay (chrome housing on Amazon vs. cheap plastic housing on eBay). I did a short write-up here (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?6119-sunbeam-headlights&p=94345&viewfull=1#post94345) about it, going with the second option. While the LED bulbs are thicker than the incandescents that also ship with the kit, the coloring sleeves still went on with a bit of finessing, and they didn't noticeably lower brightness compared to having them off. Didn't want to get pulled over though, so I went without.

Important note about those units: they do NOT come with H4 bulbs, you need to supply your own. You'll also need to find longer screws with the same thread pitch and diameter to hold them in, or cut out holes in the headlight bucket to fit the angel eye wiring. I went the screw route, using 1" on the inside and 1.25" on the top-inside, leaving the other two off for accessibility. Both locations have enough space behind them to screw them in fully if you're able to, it's just easier to aim the screws properly when they're longer. The L-shaped bracket between the headlights I left off as well due to the retaining bracket sticking out further with longer screws, although I will probably put them between the retaining bracket and the bucket when I fix the wiring issue.

Shep

04-04-2013, 12:26 AM

I drove VIN 559 to work today! This is the first time I have ever parked anywhere and left her unattended for any period of time. She drove like a champ! When I was at work, I heard some coworkers talking about it. One of the ladies asked "Is that a DeLorean out there?" and one of the guys answered "That's one of them." My first candid conversation! By the time I thought about telling them it was mine, they had left, and I didn't quite recognize their voices. I got some pictures though!

Here's a rear 3/4 shot I took when I walked into work:

http://vin559.com/images/events/drives/2013-04-03/resized/drivetowork01_640.jpg
[Click for full size (http://vin559.com/images/events/drives/2013-04-03/drivetowork01.jpg)]

The highway (77) is on the opposite side of the fence. And yes, I intentionally double-parked as much as I possibly could. No one ever parks on that part since it's the absolute furthest from the building you can possibly get, and it's the only part of the parking lot where that applies.

Here's the view from a coworker's office on the second floor:

http://vin559.com/images/events/drives/2013-04-03/resized/drivetowork02_640.jpg
[Click for full size (http://vin559.com/images/events/drives/2013-04-03/drivetowork02.jpg)]

It's the one waaaay in the back, all by herself, with a perfectly clear path from the window to the parking spot. You can barely make it out, even in the high-res. Cameraphones aren't exactly great for long-distance photos.

Here's a front 3/4 shot I took when I walked out from work:

http://vin559.com/images/events/drives/2013-04-03/resized/drivetowork03_640.jpg
[Click for full size (http://vin559.com/images/events/drives/2013-04-03/drivetowork03.jpg)]

The car lineup changed a bit if you compare the last two pictures. Who knows, maybe if I'm feeling adventurous I'll back her in next time!

Then when I was coming home, I went to the gas station to fill up. Running the engine up to operating temperature uses a lot of gas, so I was a little above half a tank, even though this was the first time I drove it since going to the gas station last time. It was jam packed, but I got a spot fairly quickly. As I was filling up, I spotted the guy in the neighboring pump walking towards the store part and staring at VIN 559 the whole way there.

This is the first car I've ever driven where I've preferred to have the radio off. I honestly don't even know if it works -- I just love the sound of my SPEC I exhaust, and the smell of the cat-delete setup! I can't get enough of it. I did bump the Angel Eyes on twice though. Hopefully I don't do that once I make the switches look proper by making them level (stock, they're tilted), which will also make the window switches more intuitive when I flip them around (up should mean up, not down).

And for those of you wondering what that stuff is on the back that you can see in the first picture, here's a closeup of what's around the license plate:

http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bezel/resized/puzzlebezel04_640.jpg
[Click for full size (http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bezel/puzzlebezel04.jpg)]

It's a multicolor puzzle, the semi-official symbol for autism awareness. I actually have it myself, diagnosed at a very early age. Every day is its own challenge, but it's nothing I can't handle. After 22 3/4 years of never telling anyone, I've finally "come out" of the autism closet. I'm not even halfway to a midlife crisis yet, and taking her to car shows and whatnot, I'm going to be meeting plenty of people. It's better to make that clear from the start so I meet people that accept me for who I am, rather than telling them only after having them known them for a while and scaring some of them off as it were. Although I will say that this is the only "closet" for me to come out of, as in I'm not hiding anything else.

I also put some on the bumper letters:

http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bumper_letters/resized/puzzlebumperletters01_640.jpg
[Click for full size (http://vin559.com/images/projects/puzzle_bumper_letters/puzzlebumperletters01.jpg)]

I had to change the dark blue/purple/indigo to a pink and make it smaller so it wouldn't blend in with the bumper. I wanted the letters to be entirely visible, so it all had to stand out. It really helps that all the puzzle patterns on VIN 559 are made from reflective vinyl, so if I park anywhere at night, that will provide much more security than the stock setup. I'll be continuing this trend on other parts of the exterior in the near future; as of today, the patterns for the sides and front are being manufactured.

[permalink to VIN 559 blog post here (http://vin559.com/?32)]

ccurzio

04-04-2013, 07:30 AM

thirdmanj

04-04-2013, 08:51 AM

LEVY

04-04-2013, 09:08 AM

Are you seriously one of THOSE assholes? The ones who think their car is important enough to take up two parking spaces? :(

If nobody parks out on that end of the lot, then it's doubly unnecessary. But it's still a dick move. :(

In my area, those that park that way get keyed to say the least.

No need to be paranoid, there are plenty of really expensive cars out there.

Use caution but you don't need to go that far.

Accipiter, you don't need to go this far either.

LEVY

Iznodmad

04-04-2013, 09:14 AM

Shep, my coworkers are very careful
Around my DeLorean. I park in line with everyone else and they are respectful, no door dings at all. I'd be more worried about the lack of a windshield sunscreen. You have to protect the fragile interior. I also recommend having your windows tinted with nice quality heat rejection film. Glad to see you are driving the car!

thirdmanj

04-04-2013, 09:23 AM

Are you allowed to use vehicles registered as antiques as daily drivers in Ohio?

Accipiter, you don't need to go this far either.

Awwwe, that's sweet of you.

Shep

04-04-2013, 10:03 AM

To respond to some of the comments: parking "all the way in Narnia" as I put it runs in the family with all our cars. My daily driver is keyed, and I noticed it when there was no one parked beside me, about a week after I bought it. While I'm not sure if it was keyed then or before I bought it, I don't want that happening to my DeLorean. But duly noted, since no one parks in that row, I'll take up one spot when I park there next time. We rent out space in the building and have other tenants, plus we have a neighboring hotel, so I didn't want someone I don't know to park next to me and carelessly give me a door ding. Now that I think about it, they're probably wouldn't look at the lines when doing that.

For the sunscreen in the windshield, I actually completely forgot about getting one. Josh told me to get one, so that one's on me. Gotta ask him about adding one while it's there for the door alignment. I'll leave the windows untinted since I'll park facing east, so the sunscreen should take care of most of it.

OverlandMan

04-04-2013, 10:25 AM

[...Split]

Shep - read through this entire post earlier. Quite a story you've got here. Really enjoyed all the updates while Josh was fixing you up. Props buddy. I may have missed this part but what did you end up doing on the upper trim for the driver-side door?

Shep

04-04-2013, 10:50 AM

Props buddy. I may have missed this part but what did you end up doing on the upper trim for the driver-side door?Thanks! The door trim is back on now that the window motor is fixed, but now the passenger side is off for mirror adjustments. It's actually got a sharpied "B" underneath its panel that I'll have to take a picture of some time. The A-pillar trim on the passenger side will be replaced at a later date, although I forget exactly why. It was a good reason though, that I do remember.

Chris Burns

04-04-2013, 12:47 PM

Very cool DMC you have there Shep!

Does my heart good to see a DMC on the road, especially a 3 digit VIN!!:)

I promoted your latest updates on my FB page.

Shep

04-10-2013, 05:15 PM

Ok... back on topic now.Indeed!

Some of you may have noticed my avatar got noticeably brighter and more 8-bit. I redid the picture in pixel art, so it looks 10x better. The only hiccup is that it's also 10x brighter than the old one was, and with the muted color scheme of these forums, it really stands out. I've been keeping an eye on the other avatars I see, and mine is by far the most prominent of the bunch. I'm thinking maybe muting the colors a bit would make it much more fitting, and would only take 5-10 minutes to do. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I know my double parking and use of a historical plate sparked quite a bit of discussion, so I have a feeling some of that will apply to the avatar as well. I really don't want it to be distracting; it's supposed to be more symbolic than prominent. I'm very open to opinions on this one.

And while I was at it, I changed my rank to a reference for "The Big Bang Theory", which my sister got me hooked on watching after pointing out that I am in many ways very much like Sheldon. In trying to watch enough to prove her wrong, I got hooked. Now I'm finding much of what he says and does to be good ideas. So I decided to just roll with it, since he supposedly has (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Cooper#Asperger_syndrome_and_OCD) the same thing that I do (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4117-VIN-559-Captain-s-Log&p=94125&viewfull=1#post94125), and give myself a rank of one of his common phrases when people call him "crazy" :tongue:

Second item on the agenda: the transmission needs a rebuild. We held off on it during the restoration since cleaning the valve body made it shift properly. In principle, it worked, but in real-world driving conditions, it didn't, or at least it struggled to. From a stop, the wheels would accelerate slowly and the engine would rev quickly, until it suddenly "kicked in" and the wheels accelerated quickly and the engine RPM's lowered to match. Could just be a first gear issue, but I am definitely not driving without first gear. That happened to my daily driver mid last year, and I had to rev so much just to get it moving, all the cops came out of the woodwork the next day trying to nab me. Yeah, not subjecting myself to that one again (thankfully the next day, the cops were looking for my Civic, and I was driving my Explorer). Although back then, about 50 feet from the service station, I noticed forcing it into second gear seemed to make it accelerate normally, but when part of the transmission is broken, the rest is soon to follow. So she's back at DPI getting the transmission rebuilt. Since we did not rebuild it before, there was no warranty on the transmission, and this is out of pocket. Unfortunate, but it is what it is. She'll be there for a while getting that done, while it's raining sideways in undrivable weather anyways (almost lost power a little bit ago, actually). Might stop by DPI in the next few days to check up on her. It's been a week today since she last left her spot in the garage to get the work done.

On a positive note, my Civic is now staying comfortably cozy inside the garage while my DeLorean is away, avoiding what today was the worst thunderstorm of the year! :biggrin:

Dangermouse

04-10-2013, 11:06 PM

Back to your avatar. I checked it on both safari and tapatalk and I don't find it too bright at all IMHO.

Though, I admit that it took me a couple of seconds to realize that it was a letter D. At first glance it looks like a shim ;)

Btw, I was on vacation last week and the location had a big Autism Awareness sign erected in honor of the Awareness Day on 4/2. Made me think of your car.

big fan of BBT also. My home wifi network name is "penny is a freeloader" :)

Shep

04-10-2013, 11:40 PM

Back to your avatar. I checked it on both safari and tapatalk and I don't find it too bright at all IMHO.

Though, I admit that it took me a couple of seconds to realize that it was a letter D. At first glance it looks like a shim ;)Good eye! It seems I didn't even replicate the curves of the photo I took properly last time around. Tweaked it a bit more, so it should be much more decipherable now. How's that? :)

Btw, I was on vacation last week and the location had a big Autism Awareness sign erected in honor of the Awareness Day on 4/2. Made me think of your car.Cool! Did you get any pictures? :D

big fan of BBT also. My home wifi network name is "penny is a freeloader" :):hihi2:

Ron

04-11-2013, 12:58 AM

Tag Talk Continued Here (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?6778-Tag-Talk-***SPLIT-FROM-VIN-559-Captain-s-Log-***)

Dangermouse

04-11-2013, 08:18 AM

Good eye! It seems I didn't even replicate the curves of the photo I took properly last time around. Tweaked it a bit more, so it should be much more decipherable now. How's that? :)

Cool! Did you get any pictures? :D

:hihi2:

Looks good, but I am now attuned to what it is.

No pics as yet, sorry. We were zipping past in a taxi. I am checking google images, so if one pops up I'll post it.

Shep

04-11-2013, 10:17 PM

Looks good, but I am now attuned to what it is.Old:
http://vin559.com/images/forums/dmctalk/bumper_avatar_80px_v3.png

New:
http://vin559.com/images/forums/dmctalk/bumper_avatar_80px_v4.png

I tweaked the right-most curve and adjusted the curve of the inner space. The inner curve looked squarish (dead center) since it was directly in-line with one of the mostly-gone yellow puzzle pieces, so I merged the yellow puzzle piece into the green one above and the pink one below. You can see what I mean if you open both images and flip back and forth between the two. In the middle row, it's two to the left of the "in plain sight" yellow puzzle piece. Much, much better than before.

No pics as yet, sorry. We were zipping past in a taxi. I am checking google images, so if one pops up I'll post it.Sweet, hope you find something! :thumbup:

EDIT:
Almost forgot to mention, the decals for the side trim and grille came today, and they look fantastic! Really impressed with the quality of these things, and having them reflective makes them "pop" in low light.

Also worth noting, I added three car shows to the Sightings (http://vin559.com/sightings.php) page that I am planning to attend this year, at my favorite weekly car show. The opening one is May 7th, and it's "Orphan Cars - U.S. Forgotten Classics" night. I'll be there, rain or shine! You can get details about the car show I'll be attending here (http://rnrcsm.com/) for those interested in seeing it.

Shep

04-17-2013, 11:42 PM

I've been thinking about my seats lately. Every time I look at them, they're getting worse and worse. Las Vegas heat is unforgiving on DeLorean interiors. The seats have furniture-grade leather, not automotive-grade leather, so they are designed for consistent room temperature. As a result, the temperature extremes of it being outdoors are far beyond its designed temperature range. Some of the vendors sell new seat covers made from automotive-grade leather, which will last far longer than the original seats. I could go this route and keep a stock interior.

Or, I can spice things up a bit and brighten up the interior!

I've been spicing up the exterior bit by bit with the puzzle decals, and pretty soon I'll be done with it. After that, I've been thinking about dyeing the trunk mat in a large puzzle pattern. The goal with all of this is to only do things that can be easily and cheaply replaced and swapped out for stock at a moment's notice. But I couldn't figure out how to move it into the interior. Then I looked at the seats again, and that's when it hit me: I can put the puzzle pattern on the seats!

I thought about the puzzle decals that I've been putting on, and the one thing that I would change if I could do it over again is adjusting the colors. From a distance, it looks quite yellow-green. So I designed seats that overcome this coloring problem by using the three primary colors plus white. I mocked up numerous design possibilities, putting a basic grid on the seat image itself, and a zoomed detail of what it will look like close up in the upper-left corner. I narrowed it down to these five:

Puzzle Pattern #1
http://vin559.com/images/Projects/Puzzle_Seats/Puzzle_Seat_Sketch_01.png

Puzzle Pattern #2
http://vin559.com/images/Projects/Puzzle_Seats/Puzzle_Seat_Sketch_02.png

Puzzle Pattern #3
http://vin559.com/images/Projects/Puzzle_Seats/Puzzle_Seat_Sketch_03.png

Puzzle Pattern #4
http://vin559.com/images/Projects/Puzzle_Seats/Puzzle_Seat_Sketch_04.png

Puzzle Pattern #5
http://vin559.com/images/Projects/Puzzle_Seats/Puzzle_Seat_Sketch_05.png

At this point, my personal favorites are Pattern #2 and Pattern #4, and I'm leaning towards #2. I really like the flow of those two, and the blue piping on the edges of the seat will really make it "pop". Naturally, the back of whatever design I go with will be pure black, so as not to become a distraction to drivers behind me. I think the reflective decals in the back will do just fine at that already.

The only real question is what material to make it out of. I have done basic searching, and haven't found anyone who has done anything like this, so it'll be tricky to figure out who I should even be approaching for this. In an absolutely perfect world, this would be made of automotive-grade leather, by either dyeing the pattern onto the finished seat, or by dying pieces of leather and attaching them via stitching and/or bonding. Failing that, "pleather" and/or imitation leather would be a tolerable option. Worst case scenario I have to go with high-grade vinyl. I absolutely will not put cloth seats in any car I own. Ever. They're cheap, and look even cheaper.

Seeing how cheaply many of the seat components can be bought for, I'm toying with the idea of buying enough to assemble two more sturdy seats, and swapping the seats entirely so I can keep the old ones off my car and in my bachelor pad. I will have to figure out if the necessary parts are available, taking the remainder from the old seats, and figure out how to make the old seats usable indoors. On the floor, or raised up? So many unknowns, but life is an adventure, and this is no exception!

[permalink to VIN 559 blog post here (http://vin559.com/?33)]

thirdmanj

04-18-2013, 06:16 AM

Or you could spare us all the suspense and just vinyl wrap the car in the puzzle pattern...;)

ALEXAKOS

04-18-2013, 06:58 AM

The early Porsche 928 had a similar pattern seat cover.
Not really with puzzle edges or colors. It was more of a checkers look. Reminded me of it.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt313/dyelightning1/928.jpg

Now with those rear seat leg space, DeLorean could have added seats in the back and get away with it;) It was the same era!

Shep

04-18-2013, 09:39 PM

Or you could spare us all the suspense and just vinyl wrap the car in the puzzle pattern...;)Why is it that any time doing the whole car is mentioned, I come up with new places to put it? :hihi2: I was going to just do the trunk mat and leave it at that for that area. Then your post got me thinking, and I realized that if it came out looking really good, it would make the worn trunk sides look like ass, since the fiberglass fibers are showing and is in dire need of painting. Now Ive put two and two together and suddenly I'm considering doing both the trunk mat and the sides in the pattern. Then I took it one step further: I was originally going to take the remaining two carpet sections out of my hood and put in placards giving DeLorean info into those four spots, but why not put it there too?

I dare not touch the engine compartment -- that's Josh's playground. Although in writing that, now I'm thinking of doing both sides of the engine cover. Why not my DMCCA leather binnacle too? Or go all out and do the whole dash? Geez, I haven't even finished one project and I'm already planning ten more. This is madness! :giddy:

The early Porsche 928 had a similar pattern seat cover.
Not really with puzzle edges or colors. It was more of a checkers look. Reminded me of it.Thanks for the tip! I did some googling on that, and apparently the tan part is actual leather, but the white/black checkerboard is something called "pascha cloth". I definitely don't want the pure white parts to be cloth since it'll stand out like a sore thumb, but the multicolor nature of the puzzle pattern may hide it quite well. This might be a good alternative if I can't find a shop that is willing (able?) to do multicolor leather. I did some more searching, and leather, pleather, bonded leather, suede, and pretty much every other "imitation leather" seems to be able to only do one color and still look decent, except for two items of women's clothing I came across :hmm:

Then I googled for multi-color vinyl trying to see if it had been done before, and came across pictures of beach balls (derp), so obviously it has, on quite large scale. While not quite as nice as leather, I have always thought they looked sharp on cars from the 60's and 70's, so this may be the best lead to chase down. May even bring costs down. Now I'll focus my efforts on multicolor vinyl to see what I come up with in that area! :biggrin:

ALEXAKOS

04-19-2013, 02:17 AM

I doubt you can get a colored pattern design on leather. That would mean stitching each puzzle piece together. So you must go with some fabric.

Shep

04-19-2013, 06:32 PM

I doubt you can get a colored pattern design on leather. That would mean stitching each puzzle piece together. So you must go with some fabric.They can be stitched together. It'll be tedious no doubt, but it can be done. I may try my hand at things to see if I can do a proof of concept myself, and if I can, try to do the binnacle that way. It certainly won't be as easy as, say, vinyl, but it's at least worth a shot. While the DMCCA binnacle has great craftsmanship, the leather they use has this odd feel to it. Whatever it is, it's not a variant I have come across before. I was going to get it recovered to match the early OEM leather anyways, but now I think I'll take it in another direction.

I thought more about the engine cover today. Second to the peel-n-stick decals I've been using, paint is the easiest thing I can do. Third would be dyeing the hood carpeting and trunk mat. Once I get the decals on and hook up the Lambda light to my angel eye setup, I think I'll paint the engine cover. Just need to find the paint for it.

I hate it when a momentary lapse of sanity turns out to be a really good idea :tongue:

Shep

04-24-2013, 12:13 AM

Two things I wanted to touch on here. I really need to stop doing this, but I thought more about where the puzzle pattern could go, and came up with another idea. The wood backing on the door headliners is still holding strong, but is definitely showing signs of its age. Not nearly as bad as the front/rear headliner wood was, but it's still not exactly the world's best. So I thought about obtaining some white fabric that would be suitable for the headliner and dyeing that in the pattern color, then putting that on a new headliner piece. This is an option I am seriously considering for car shows, parades, and such where doors remain open. Right after that I thought about replacement door sills, which I'm thinking will be thick plexiglass with the underside painted so it doesn't rub off (which can also allow for some light effects if done properly). And I had a few more wild ideas for where to place it, some of which I am planning, and others I have doubts on in terms of feasibility and taste. Well, my tastes anyways, it's not like I'm catering to anyone else with this :tongue:

So in terms of where to put the pattern next, here's the list, in order of soonest to last (which will keep me busy all summer, possibly longer):
1) Engine cover (lower)
2) B-pillar "pseudo-vents"
3) Front grille (plexiglass replacement)
4) Side trim and door handles
5) Headliners (doors only)
6) Trunk mat and (possibly) trunk sides -- new rubber plug will be obtained and painted to preserve the original
7) Hood carpeting -- new carpeting will be purchased since two sections are missing
8) Parcel shelf carpeting
9) Door sills
10) Glovebox
11) Windshield trim (black plastic on left/right/top sides of windshield)
12) Binnacle
13) Seats (utilizing binnacle project as a test mule)

And the ones I am debating with myself:
1) Floor mats (potential durability issues with feet scuffing and the elements)
2) Custom cargo net (would require a mesh rather than the string it currently has, also would cover up parcel shelf carpeting)
3) Center console (dyeing has durability issues, not to mention difficulty getting sharp edges with the textured finish)
4) Shifter surround (would look out of place without center console being done; would need to color-match both)
5) Dashboard (hard to remove with windshield in, already in great condition, difficulty getting sharp edges)
6) Center vinyl section riding on either side of the frame (would be a HUGE project probably not worth the effort)
7) Carpeting behind seats (no one would see it, but worth noting in this list of everywhere else I'm even halfway considering)

Quite a huge list. What's left are the parts too complicated to do (A/C panel, radio), too valuable to do (ss panels, steering wheel), too freshly conditioned to do (rolling chassis, louvers) or too out of sight to do (door/rear trim panels, front/rear headliner). I have quite a long road ahead of me in this department! And with the Angel Eyes very close to 100% done, that's really all that's left on my todo list! Well, and get a generic locking gas cap. I'm tired of trying to fix my old one, and the non-locking version, well, doesn't lock. Extra keys for the generic locking gas cap I'll get will be found in the glovebox, since it's only accessible once entry into the cabin has been gained.

And the second item I wanted to touch on here: VIN559.com is hosted via GoDaddy, and they allow full domain redirects. At first glance, it looks like it doesn't cost anything extra to add a second domain onto your list if it's duplicating a domain you're already paying for. So I tried that with a second domain tonight, and so far visiting it brings up a dead page as if GoDaddy didn't register it. I will have to do more research to figure out why it's not working, but this would be the absolute best case scenario if I can get this to work. I do know registering an entirely new domain can take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours to "activate", so I will try again at various points tomorrow to see if it kicks in at any point. When I finally get it working, I'll post the new URL here, and whichever one you go to will purely be a matter of preference, since both will remain active. "VIN559.com" is much shorter than "WhateverDomainIGoWith.com", so for twitter/texting/etc. that would save on character counts, but the new domain will be much easier to remember.

Jacko

04-24-2013, 09:38 AM

Shep, I get tired just reading this thread. You are one busy man ... :angry_whip::hippo::angry_whip:

LEVY

04-24-2013, 10:21 AM

And the second item I wanted to touch on here: VIN559.com is hosted via GoDaddy, and they allow full domain redirects. At first glance, it looks like it doesn't cost anything extra to add a second domain onto your list if it's duplicating a domain you're already paying for. So I tried that with a second domain tonight, and so far visiting it brings up a dead page as if GoDaddy didn't register it. I will have to do more research to figure out why it's not working, but this would be the absolute best case scenario if I can get this to work. I do know registering an entirely new domain can take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours to "activate", so I will try again at various points tomorrow to see if it kicks in at any point. When I finally get it working, I'll post the new URL here, and whichever one you go to will purely be a matter of preference, since both will remain active. "VIN559.com" is much shorter than "WhateverDomainIGoWith.com", so for twitter/texting/etc. that would save on character counts, but the new domain will be much easier to remember.

It should only take a couple of minutes to work but you have to point it yoursef, or contact them and ask them to do it for you.

LEVY

Dangermouse

04-24-2013, 12:58 PM

If it was me, I would wrap the hood in a large version of the pattern and then do the headliners like you suggest.

And then I would stop, as I am a member of the "Less is More" school.

I think that having the hood and rear fascia patterns would indicate your passion to other road travelers, while the headliners would help start conversations and raise awareness during car shows, which I assume is your aim.

Perhaps some sort of pop-up display in the trunk would be useful?

(as an aside, I think the seats would be a nightmnare to do properly)

I completely support your aim in this but worry that too much "jigsaw bling" would distract the audience and stop them taking it seriously and receiving the message.

just my (unsolicited, I know) 2c.

Of course, it is your car to do with as you please.

thirdmanj

04-24-2013, 01:02 PM

Shep

04-24-2013, 11:57 PM

It should only take a couple of minutes to work but you have to point it yoursef, or contact them and ask them to do it for you.

LEVYIt's supposed to be automatic since they host both sites, but looking through the DNS records and whatnot I can't see where the issue is. I'll have to probe further until I find out what's going on. I'm thinking I missed something, but I'm not sure what exactly.

Shep, I get tired just reading this thread. You are one busy man ...One of the many advantages of being single! :) Although I recently lost that status and now have a girl in my life. She has autism too, same variant and everything. A lot of this is inspiration from her, as she's big on autism awareness. I figure since she's avoided the DeLorean topic entirely whenever I've brought it up, giving it those kinds of personal touches will make her more comfortable with me owning it. But even without that, it's more of a "personal brand" kind of thing.

the headliners would help start conversations and raise awareness during car shows, which I assume is your aim.Ultimately it's a personal touch thing, but I see your point on the overkill. I know there'll come a point where I'll look at it and think "okay, that's enough", and move on to the next area. The hood is a no-go though. From the outside, I want it still recognizable as a DeLorean, but on the inside it's anything but. I don't think that entire list will be done, but as time goes on and I do more parts, I'll get a better idea of how everything will look together and adjust from there.

I've always liked the wide side stripes though, so instead of the side trim, I may make my own out of the puzzle pattern. I already have the decal prepped and ready to apply to the side trim, but I can easily save it for use elsewhere.