Need advice. I just inherited a 1981 Delorean with 1,248 miles. Been in dry storage

[Lwanmtr]

Congrats on the inheritance...sorry about your loss, though.

I dont have too much to offer..other than as a relative newbie to the restoration scene, I can say dont get too overwhelmed. Taking it to one of the DMC shops for a thorough going through is defiately a good idea...might find its not as bad as it looks

Browsing the forums is a good source for nearly any info you need too.

[dmruschell]

If you've owned other classic cars and are somewhat mechanically inclined, definitely do the work yourself. You'll save a LOT of money.

5 years ago, I inherited a 1961 Corvette, which started me on a path of owning and driving exclusively classic cars. My newest is my DeLorean. I also knew next to nothing about working on cars, but have learned a lot from this community, which has given me confidence to work on my other cars.

I'm located in MD, which is next to VA, but I'm not sure how much help that will be once the car is moved to TN.

I'm currently helping someone I met through the community get his car running. It's been sitting for 8 years, and sat for 10+ years before that. I had him clean out the fuel tank, we had his injectors replaced or cleaned, fuel lines cleaned, and are working on getting a working fuel distributor (engine will run, but plunger in the distributor doesn't move freely, so the air valve must be moved manually). Once it's running, we will be replacing all of the fluids and updating what needs to be updated to get it on the road.

The only difference between the DeLorean and any other classic car that's been sitting is the fuel system. Read up on how the KJet system works, and you'll be able to better diagnose and repair the system. Other than that, it's just a car with a very supportive community.

[Lwanmtr]

Yeah, definately get to know the k-jet system...and the proper vaccuum routing. My line were going in all the wrong ways..so wrong that Toby at DMCNW was surprised my engine was trying to run as good as it was (they of course fixed all that).

[81dmc]

Right from the factory the Delorean was a good running well designed car. If kept up to even minimal maintenance standards it will serve the owner well. The upgrades sponsored by the vendors can mostly improve on the car's reliability but really it is best to bring the car back to factory specs and then drive it and see what fails or doesn't work well. You can spend thousands on "improvements" only to find that the car was originally well designed. Just get it running and then drive the hell out of it and see what works and what doesn't.

It's all fun and games "driving the hell out of it" until a fuel line breaks, the fuse box melts on the road, or the engine overheats from the failed fan fail.

[Andrew]

I would say your case is kind of extreme. Even doing all of your own work, $2K is not usually enough to get all of the systems going. Tires alone can take up a big chunk of that and that's just one item. I wonder just how much you can really save converting to a carb as opposed to getting the K-Jet system going. In both cases you have to clean the fuel tank and replace all of the internals. Typically what is necessary to get the fuel system going is you replace all of the fuel tank internals, unstick the plunger in the distributor, clean or replace the fuel injectors, and maybe the Control Pressure Regulator.

I agree that 5052's case is rare. Specifically, I lucked out by finding a complete Peugeot fuel system from the intake to the air cleaner for $250. Additionally, the mechanical pump was $45 and the new lines, random fuel hose and a new fuel tank boot set me back about another $100. However, I was also able to recoup some of my costs by selling off the core K-Jet parts.

On an aside, by cross referencing the brake and clutch master along with the brake hoses, I saved a couple hundred dollars.

I would add that safety and reliability are always a top priority, tires and cooling hoses should be inspected / replaced before any distance driving.

[Nuclearbacon]

So! It's been about a year! Any news on this AMAZING Story???

[opethmike]

So! It's been about a year! Any news on this AMAZING Story???

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[hillbillysims]

Everything is still tied up. I hope soon. I plan to talk to my grandmother about it soon. I'm antsy to get started. Honestly I haven't pushed it because I don't have a place to put it out of the weather yet. Meeting with a contractor next week to build a 3-car garage in preparation of starting this restore. I will definitely post an update when I am able to pick it up!

[hillbillysims]

By the way, is there any kind of cross-reference book or chart for parts that will work on the DMC from other makes for potential savings?

[opethmike]

By the way, is there any kind of cross-reference book or chart for parts that will work on the DMC from other makes for potential savings?

There's a whole sub-forum for it on here.