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View Full Version : Resources for owning a Delorean in the Bay area?



SmoJo
03-30-2013, 09:15 PM
Hey NorCal!

The month I was relocating from Seattle to San Francisco, the Pacific NW DMC shop opened next door to my karate school. It's been one of those childhood dreams that you never think could ever happen (like seeing a unicorn) to come face to face with a delorean, much less consider the idea of owning one. I nearly got hit in the parking lot as I stood frozen in the sight of a DMC store and in the disbelief that I was relocating. If I didn't sign those reloc forms, I probably would have stayed out there another year to get one. I honestly didn't know deloreans were still being sold.

I've already talked to someone out in Seattle who owns a Delorean, so I've answered many of my initial questions about owner the car. And I've talked to the DMC store at length. Friends think I'm a bit crazy, but hey, at least it isn't a firetruck like this guy bought (http://geckodesigns.kinja.com/so-i-bought-a-firetruck-252516685).

But in NorCal, there isn't a DMC shop. Where do you all go for maintenance? Also, any hidden gotchas to look out for in CA? I only know WA State owners, no CA owners, hence my pinging this forum.

Thanks!

jawn101
03-31-2013, 12:15 AM
Hey - check out our club site for some resources. http://www.ncdmc.org

Most of us do a lot if not all of our own maintenance. Shops willing or competent to work on our cars are vanishing but do still exist. There's a very active and friendly club out here with lots of owners willing to pitch in and help out.

Good luck and keep in touch if you start seriously shopping. We can help give any potential candidates a once-over and save you any nasty surprises later.

As for gotchas - you will have to pass smog. That means either finding a 'friendly' shop or making sure your emissions systems are unmodified and working properly.

vwdmc16
03-31-2013, 01:08 AM
Jon's right, We kinda all do the work ourselves, that's half the fun! We have quite a few get togethers like technical meets where we work on the cars together or cruises where we show them off on the road, you should try to come out and get a taste of what Delorean ownership is like.

SmoJo
03-31-2013, 03:37 PM
Thanks all for the super-fast responses!

If you guys said, "there's a DMC shop in NorCal" or "There's this shop we all go to," I would buy one from the Pacific NW DMC shop this summer/fall (seriously). It's the maintenance that holds me back. I'm embarrassed to say I know very little about cars. Not from lack of interest, just no one in my family worked on them when i was growing up.

How can I find out more about your next get-togethers? The http://www.ncdmc.org link doesn't have any upcoming events. I noticed something about an event at UC Davis in the threads. I'm more than happy to drive out there to talk to this NorCal group.

Thanks!

jawn101
03-31-2013, 04:43 PM
Thanks all for the super-fast responses!

If you guys said, "there's a DMC shop in NorCal" or "There's this shop we all go to," I would buy one from the Pacific NW DMC shop this summer/fall (seriously). It's the maintenance that holds me back. I'm embarrassed to say I know very little about cars. Not from lack of interest, just no one in my family worked on them when i was growing up.

How can I find out more about your next get-togethers? The http://www.ncdmc.org link doesn't have any upcoming events. I noticed something about an event at UC Davis in the threads. I'm more than happy to drive out there to talk to this NorCal group.

Thanks!

Sadly, no - nothing like that. The shops you will find that are even willing to touch these cars will only do the systems they are familiar with - engine work, transmission maybe, brakes, etc. But for the most part none of the specialized DeLorean systems like core electrical, interior, body and so on.

We do have a DMC-CA franchise down outside LA if you were so inclined to use them. But shop rates are high and you'll quickly get in over your head :)

Honestly I'd never worked on a car before this one either. But I took it as a learning experience and thankfully this is a pretty easy little car to work on, and have now overhauled and rebuilt every single system on the car in my garage. It's complex enough to be interesting and with just enough stupid design cues to give your profanity bone a workout, but overall pretty simple to understand. And the forum here is invaluable - there's nothing that this collective can't help you figure out and solve.

As for local events, they frequently don't make it onto the club site since they are more impromptu than all that. Best bet is to keep an eye on this section of the forum or join the NCDMC mailing list and Facebook page. The event in Davis is a major yearly parade that we participate in. We were the hit of the day last year.

jawn101
03-31-2013, 04:49 PM
Also I didn't mention it in my last post because I don't want to just whore him out all over the place, but Clint (vwdmc16 who replied above) is the life of our group tech-wise. He's an automotive pro, super smart and always willing to lend a hand. He taught me everything I know and my car wouldn't be what it is without him! In fact most of them locally wouldn't.

In fact I'm kind of a boob when it comes to stuff like this. As several other local owners, mostly David and Clint can attest, I've suffered enough lacerations, contusions, heatstroke and chemical burns to fell ten men during my ownership of this car. But we always succeed together! :)

Basically I'm saying don't let the lack of shops scare you away. If you can turn a wrench and have somewhere you can work (preferably enclosed as some jobs will take multiple days) then you'll probably be OK.

Rich
03-31-2013, 06:46 PM
If you guys said, "there's a DMC shop in NorCal" or "There's this shop we all go to," I would buy one from the Pacific NW DMC shop this summer/fall (seriously). It's the maintenance that holds me back. I'm embarrassed to say I know very little about cars. Not from lack of interest, just no one in my family worked on them when i was growing up.

How can I find out more about your next get-togethers?

Welcome to the Bay Area.

The NCDMC membership counts folks from all over Northern Calif, including the Bay Area, Santa Cruz, as well as the Sacramento/Stockton and Central Valley area. As a long-time D owner around here (Silicon Valley) I can tell you about a few local shops that I use for suspension and general maintenance (A/C, brakes, fascia paint, almost anything but SS bodywork and inside-the-door stuff). Other local members may chime in with other suggestions. Here in the Bay Area we've have had 2 tech sessions (door torsion bars, engine troubleshooting, door strikers, etc.) in the past 2 years.

There are various NCDMC get-togethers like car shows and drive events. It's pretty informal.

One drive that's coming up in late April will be up Hwy 1 to Mendocino led by David. You can see the posts in this NCDMC section of dmctalk. There is also a YahooGroups forum for NCDMC where that drive, along with other local happenings and news, is posted. Last year I led a fun group of 5 D's over and around Marin and Point Reyes 5 months ago and last May a different member took 6 or 7 of us through the Gold Country.

As far as particular watchouts for owning a D in the Bay Area I can't think of too many. The car still smogs OK (our area of California mandates "treadmill" smog tests and you can find shops that will smog a D for $30) and the gas here is OK. Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection was used on BMWs, Porsches, Mercedes and VWs for a lot of years and there are plenty of folks here who know how to fix them. California could do a better job on road maintenance, but our car still holds an alignment fine. The upside of getting a D here is the lower likelihood of frame or suspension rust since Calif. was a very large market for the car when it came out.

When you are ready to learn more about the car or want to search one out let us all know. Like others here said, we're a pretty helpful and friendly bunch.

vwdmc16
03-31-2013, 06:53 PM
Thanks for not Whoring me out! LOL, Yeah im a total gear head and have wanted my car since I was 5 years old so I guess I should know what Im doing right? And if I didn't help out I wouldn't have so many great friends!

We recommend looking through the blogs/logs/build threads of various cars here like mine below or Jon's above. But please dont let the immense amount of work that ive done scare you off, my car was about as bad as any restoration project can start off without being wreaked, then there is Jon's car that was im much much better shape than mine when he bought it, but he could leave anything alone:smile: so it has been a good amount of work too.


Some real hard honesty here: These cars are over 30 years old and most weren't built as well as intended when new, then they were used hard or not at all which is just as bad since they began to rot. So they all need love to get going again and more to keep going. So if you arent willing to get your hands dirty and spend time in the garage on weekends or pay someone lots of expensive hourly labor to put in that love. Then there are really only two choices: go buy the nicest most expensive car you can find that is already perfect ($35-50K) or don't buy a Delorean at all. Like most nice things they require care and maintenance to keep working, If you have the time and passion for that, they are worth it.

jawn101
03-31-2013, 07:53 PM
Thanks for not Whoring me out!

Full disclosure, I just want to keep you a secret... :)


...there is Jon's car that was im much much better shape than mine when he bought it, but he could leave anything alone:smile: so it has been a good amount of work too.

Key thing to note here: preventative maintenance is worth its weight in gold on this car. In reality I bought a car that needed very little to run and drive OK - but for how long? Doing every system whether it needed it or not has given me tremendous knowledge and confidence in my car, which is important with a vehicle this old. I'd trust it to the ends of the earth right now, zombie apocalypse or planet-killing EMP this car will get me to the safe zone in style. As long as there are no high curbs, steep hills or driveways, narrow roads...lol :)

Dmcfan1981
04-13-2013, 02:22 AM
Fremont Foreign Auto in Fremont works on DeLoreans. I've had mine worked on there before, they got my car to pass smog.

jawn101
04-14-2013, 12:07 AM
I hope we didn't scare OP off... Come on back, and bring that new DeLorean you know you want.... :)