Memo 040881 Product Evaluation Summary - CRBrown

[ssdelorean]

These particular memos belonged to Ben Byrd and are now in Cliff Schmucker's library.

I am particularly drawn to number 15 where it states that the front ride height "must be lowered so that the tire fits within the arch of the wheelwell." Here is the proof that the nose high look was not suppose to be. All you concourse competitors out there now can lower your car and not get any points deducted :-)

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Typing some info here so it is available in the searches:

Inter-Office Memo from April 8, 1981
From: C. R. Brown
To: Don Lander
CC: John Z. Delorean, E. A. Cafieero, K. M. Loasby, B. Wills, C. K. Bennington

Inner Door Seal, Outer Door Seal, T Panel, Armrest , Carpeting, Door Strikers, Door Latch, Wheel Color, Center Console, Underbody Defect, Window Louvre Ledge, Engine Cover Side Decks, Front Standing Height, Ride Height Too High, Inner Wheel Housing, Coil Springs, Glove Box Door, Rear Fenders, Interior Courtesy Light, Front Facia, Body Panel Fits, Batteries, Automatic Transmission, Windshield, Sway Bar, Suspension Security, Radios, Door Lock Cylinders, Air Conditioning Heating Control,



Memo 040881 Product Evaluation Summary - CRBrown

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This second memo is a follow up C R Brown received from DMCL.

Memo 041681 Product Evaluation Summary DMCL Response - CRBrown

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[Kenny_Z]

That was a really interesting read. It looks like some of those complaints never got addressed.

[jawn101]

These are really amazing. #12 is proof that the B pillar vents were supposed to be functional too, something that was always a question in my mind.

[Nicholas R]

Man whoever was reading the response was clearly not satisfied with the lack of established timelines on addressing each problem, lol. "WHEN?! WHEN?! WHEN?!"

[jawn101]

Man whoever was reading the response was clearly not satisfied with the lack of established timelines on addressing each problem, lol. "WHEN?! WHEN?! WHEN?!"

I actually burst out laughing at the comment towards the end; "In other words, T/S..."

[matt clark]

This is incredible, thanks for sharing this.

[Domi]

Thanks for sharing your informations ;)

[Farrar]

My car still has some of those problems...

What's the "door filler flap"?

[jawn101]

My car still has some of those problems...

What's the "door filler flap"?

Haha, we all still have at least SOME of these...:)

My bet on the door filler flap is the roof seal, based on their description of rivets and rattles etc.

[Shep]

Thanks for sharing! Wow, someone with a blue pen was in a foul mood that day :hihi2:

Interesting to note, this confirms the pontoons were changed not because of the way they came out of the molds, but rather for easy cleaning. I tried dusting my textured pontoons down and only got about a third of the way on one of them before it started shredding the paper towel I was using. Would've been much easier to clean without all the little bumps on it, and I could've wiped them both down fully. Not sure why they were textured in the first place though. Maybe to hide imperfections like they later did with the sideview mirrors?

[Farrar]

Thanks for sharing! Wow, someone with a blue pen was in a foul mood that day :hihi2:

...and they made note of the spelling errors in the memo, while being unable to get "vague" right the first time. I laughed out loud at that. :)

[Shep]

...and they made note of the spelling errors in the memo, while being unable to get "vague" right the first time. I laughed out loud at that. :)Almost sounds like the guy's wife after he neglected to do the laundry and told her he'd do it later. "When? When?! How long can it take? Why not NOW? Just do it!"

[Kenny_Z]

I've seen people get "blue inked" like that before in company memos. It's always hilarious when you or your department isn't the target. I was only blue inked once but I was in the right and all the bosses knew it. I heard through the grapevine that the account manager that did it was put in his place. It pays to be the guy that everyone likes and wants help from. I'm slowly working my way back to that status in my new company ;)

[vwdmc16]

Great read! Glad to know that they were at least trying to get things sorted out. Man would I love to have been a DMC test driver. " Take this new DMC12 and go drive the shit out of it for two months straight, and report back" Awesome job:driving1:


The wanted 1/8th inch gaps between the fenders and hood, and 0.5 mm to the fascia? that's damn tight!

[jawn101]

...The wanted 1/8th inch gaps between the fenders and hood, and 0.5 mm to the fascia? that's damn tight!

Well, they're no Bricklin tolerances, but...

[Nicholas R]

Great read! Glad to know that they were at least trying to get things sorted out. Man would I love to have been a DMC test driver. " Take this new DMC12 and go drive the shit out of it for two months straight, and report back" Awesome job:driving1:


The wanted 1/8th inch gaps between the fenders and hood, and 0.5 mm to the fascia? that's damn tight!

I've tried having an 1/8" gap between my fender and hood and when I have them that close, the hood catches on the fascia during the opening process.

Also, .5mm??? Really? Is someone going to get in there with a feeler gauge?? I think it would have just been easier to say, "the fascia needs to butt up to, and touch the fenders".

[SamHill]

They didn't call him "Dick" Brown for nothing.

18237

[Ron]

They didn't call him "Dick" Brown for nothing.

18237

:reading: "...falls out..." :hysterical:

[Mark D]

I thought note 17 was really interesting...they wanted to paint the inner door flat black to match the infill panels and to hide the spot weld burn and distortion. The brown spot welds always bothered me as well so I brushed them all out with a scotch brite pad to improve the finish. I thought it made a big difference in improving the look of quality on the door construction.

[jawn101]

I thought note 17 was really interesting...they wanted to paint the inner door flat black to match the infill panels and to hide the spot weld burn and distortion. The brown spot welds always bothered me as well so I brushed them all out with a scotch brite pad to improve the finish. I thought it made a big difference in improving the look of quality on the door construction.

I wonder if this was the impetus behind those stickers that DMCH sells for the unfinished area that shows between the rear quarter and door cards inside. I don't know if those were OEM or a new idea.

[DMCH James]

I wonder if this was the impetus behind those stickers that DMCH sells for the unfinished area that shows between the rear quarter and door cards inside. I don't know if those were OEM or a new idea.

The door finisher stickers were a factory item installed on many of the later cars. They also had parts numbers for the other interior colors (gray, burgundy, blue, tan, etc) which is why we also now produce them in gray as well as the original black.

James

[Tillsy]

Interesting that they were already aware of some of these issues early on, some got sorted but a shame many didn't - even easy and important ones like the riveted top door seals...

[DMCH James]

Interesting that they were already aware of some of these issues early on, some got sorted but a shame many didn't - even easy and important ones like the riveted top door seals...

I think they did do a lot of the easy and important ones. Roof seals shouldn't have gone bad anytime in the first several years that the car was in use. There are lots of things in the files here for parts that got engineered in late 1981 and early-mid 1982 that just never made it to production. Some of them got to the "trial run" stage where they were fitted to anywhere from 10-50 cars to test feasibility. Things like the fixing bolts for the trailing arm shields in the battery and cubby compartment - they were engineered to be replaced with the metal strips commonly used today.

http://store.delorean.com/p-10405-deflector-retaining-strip-pair.aspx

Note the "U.E." on the stock disposal instructions for the Big Head Bolt SP10589 - that means "Until Exhausted" - they weren't going to switch until they had used up all the old parts.

[StainlessSteelDream]

Note the "U.E." on the stock disposal instructions for the Big Head Bolt SP10589 - that means "Until Exhausted" - they weren't going to switch until they had used up all the old parts.

Some of these did make it "into the wild"... my 1983 has these from day one, but it would have been a Kapac assembled car I guess so they might have used whatever they had closest at hand.

[DMCH James]

Some of these did make it "into the wild"... my 1983 has these from day one, but it would have been a Kapac assembled car I guess so they might have used whatever they had closest at hand.

Couple of things here - there were no Kapac assembled cars. Your car was almost assuredly VIN 12106, built in Feb/Mar of 1982 by DMCL. It was later given a new VIN by Consolidated International by adding 5000 to the existing VIN. The 20XXX were the partially assembled cars on the assembly line when the line shut completely in May 1982. These were completed at the direction of Consolidated in very late 1982, reportedly by bringing back managers to complete them.

While it's possible that they were in production at the time your car was built, the absence of any "Received Inventory" in the files and no "Initial Sample Record" on hand, coupled with the fact that DMCL went into receivership shortly after this Engineering Change was approved, in my opinion make it *more* likely that your car happened to be one of the "10 off car sets" supplied for evaluation. Perhaps Nick might be able to shed some light on it from his files.

Any other 17XXX owner care to check their cars and report back?

James

[Shep]

I wonder if this was the impetus behind those stickers that DMCH sells for the unfinished area that shows between the rear quarter and door cards inside. I don't know if those were OEM or a new idea.Could you elaborate on that? I looked on mine and can't figure out what you're talking about. By "door card", do you mean the VIN plate on the door sill? I didn't see any unfinished areas there :hmm:

[Dangermouse]

Shep, the door cards are the two large pieces of interior door trim that are held on by "fir trees"

So called, I think, because the first ones used were actually made from pressed card.

[DMCH James]

Could you elaborate on that? I looked on mine and can't figure out what you're talking about. By "door card", do you mean the VIN plate on the door sill? I didn't see any unfinished areas there :hmm:

The gap between the door panel and the rear trim panel - normally in this gap you could see the bare stainless of the inner door. This "door finisher" show in the photo below helps to obscure that area.

[Patrick C]

Couple of things here - there were no Kapac assembled cars.

I've heard this too, but one of our Cincinnati owners who has been in this game for a long time has told me that he personally witnessed Jerry Rhine (sp?) building a DeLorean from the ground up more than once. I asked if they were half-completed cars from DMCL, and he said that no, Jerry was building up from the bare frame when he stopped in to visit. Since this owner lived in Columbus at the time, he stopped in frequently to see Jerry and eventually bought his car from him (an early '81). I may be wrong, but the number I heard was that Jerry built 5-6 cars from parts while working for KAPAC.

[DMCH James]

I've heard this too, but one of our Cincinnati owners who has been in this game for a long time has told me that he personally witnessed Jerry Rhine (sp?) building a DeLorean from the ground up more than once. I asked if they were half-completed cars from DMCL, and he said that no, Jerry was building up from the bare frame when he stopped in to visit. I may be wrong, but the number I heard was that Jerry built 5-6 cars from parts while working for KAPAC.

Marvin Katz (the "Ka" in Kapac) says that no cars were built as they had no way to title them since there were no MSO documents. When we bought everything in 1997 there were two partially assembled cars - one a rolling frame/underbody and one just a rolling frame. Whoever put them together didn't know what they were doing as they had installed manual transmissions in automatic frames. We corrected the rolling frame/underbody and made it driveable without doors/other panels and took it to DCS 2000 in Cleveland.

[Shep]

Shep, the door cards are the two large pieces of interior door trim that are held on by "fir trees"

So called, I think, because the first ones used were actually made from pressed card.
The gap between the door panel and the rear trim panel - normally in this gap you could see the bare stainless of the inner door. This "door finisher" show in the photo below helps to obscure that area.Thanks guys! Learned a new term today. :thumbup:

[Chris 16409]

I believe the term "door card" is used more frequently in England. I've watched lots of episodes of Wheeler Dealers and Mike and Ed always refer to door trim panels as "door cards." As in "the door cards were perished".