My Stewardship of 10439

[dodint]

If this thread is in the wrong place or inappropriate feel free to shift it elsewhere. I'm not sure if it's going to be a travelogue for the trip home or some place that I might use to jot notes through the ownership that are not appropriate for subject specific threads.

I've purchased 10439 sight unseen and intend to fly down to Atlanta, GA and drive it back to Pittsburgh, PA over New Years weekend. The car actually already has a thread here on DMCTalk which was a great help to me. I hope that this new thread will be a resource to whomever has 10439 after my time with it is done.

I've been actively reading about DMCs since I was fourteen years old, or since 1998 or so. I've toured DMCMW and spoke to Mike about my buying decision, and attended DCS 2016 to get to talk to owners (some I know are here, hi Lenny, Josh!) and vendors and to do my last bit of research. I had planned to buy in spring of 2018 but I came across the 'perfect' car and felt it was time to end the search and get it home.

I originally wanted to spend between $30-35k for a really nice runner that did not have any immediate needs. I ended up going up to $39k to get a car that already had the Stage II upgrade since that's something I knew I wanted to do in the future anyway. I got the interior color, transmission, and engine upgrade package I wanted in a car with decently low mileage. I am very excited. The only thing I conceeded on was the hood, I really dislike the hood with the logo tacked on. Would love to get a grooved hood one day but it's unlikely.

Once I get the car and receipts home I will enumerate this list fully, but for now this is what I know about the car:

'82 Gray 5-speed, 21,040 miles

Interior:
*New Seat Covers
*New Carpet
Bluetooth Stereo Receiver

Mechanicals:
*Stage II Motor/Exhaust
*New Fuel Pump and Accumulator
*Rebuilt Fuel Distributor
*New Brake Calipers w/Rotors
*New SS Brake Lines
*New Clutch, SS Clutch Line, and Slave Cylinder
*SS Coolant Bottle
*New Radiator
Lowering Springs/Shocks
*Relay Update Kit
*140 Amp Alternator
*LED Door Lights
*All Grounds Checked/Cleaned
*New Shift Bushings
*Wheels, Powdercoated
Fascias Painted and Mounted w/New Studs

* denotes performed by DMCMW November 2012 ~3,000 miles ago.

Sale included 2 keys, Car Cover, DeLorean World back issues, Tech Manual, receipts.

I already have the tech manuals (and have read them, even the K-Jet manual) but a hard copy will be a nice addition.

The car is about an hour northeast of Atlanta. I have an Uncle that lives near Knoxville, TN and is a big car guy. My wife and I will drive from Georgia to Tennessee and spend the night at my uncle's on Saturday, then drive the remaining distance on Sunday. My uncle lives on one side of The Tail of the Dragon so if the car feels good under me I intend to take 129 to get there which is a fantastic way to start ownership. That's about four hours on Saturday for the initial shakedown and then eight hours to get back to our house. Then it goes in the garage until the last of the snow is gone for winter.

About me: I'm a cyber security specialist for the federal government who attends law school part time. I was a Marine but wised up and escaped.

Other vehicles: R56 MINI Cooper, E63 BMW 650i, BMW R1200CLC.

I'll take some pictures at Cheoah Dam if the light is good. I plan to take some essential tools with me but I'll probably end up just letting my AAA Premier card do the heavy lifting if something happens that I can't sort quickly.

For now I've attached some older pics from the other thread and eBay auction just to allow for an idea of what I've bought into.

IMG_20140111_092951.jpgIMG_20140111_092917.jpgIMG_20140111_093011.jpgs-l500 (12).jpgs-l500 (1).jpgs-l500 (3).jpg

[DMC-81]

Very nice car. Congratulations!!

[Michael]

Excellent looking example. Personally I love the flat hoods with the badge(always have).

[David T]

Right now they are predicting a snow storm for this Saturday for the Northeast. Not too specific as to timing or amounts yet but they are already saying it will be a significant storm. I am not sure how it will affect PA but if it travels up the coast it may affect you. Keep your plans flexible and you may have to adjust your trip and/or schedule. Not a good idea to drive the Delorean in snow, especially if you are not familiar with it. A better plan would be to trailer it if at all possible. In any case make sure you have the car covered with adequate insurance. Planing on using a trailer and doing it that way in advance is a much better (and cheaper) plan that driving and getting stuck out on the highway. You can wait hours for the tow and the cost will be a LOT more.

[dodint]

I have been watching that system. It's projecting to miss the cooridor I'm traveling, that danger doesn't seem like it will be realized in my case. At worse I would reasses on Sunday morning and leave it at my Uncles and rent a car one way back to Pittsburgh, or just stay another day as I am off Monday. Or I can go back down and get it later if need be. My Sunday travel would be mostly I-79. Saturday from Atlanta to Knoxville looks unremarkable, 40s and sunny.

I really don't see that as being an issue though. The concern now is that the high for Sunday is 16F. I have read next to nothing about operating a DMC in below freezing weather. I know about the throttle recall but that's about it.

[DaraSue]

Congratulations on your purchase! Road tripping in a DeLorean is always an unforgettable experience (and if you're lucky, in a good way, LOL). They do good work at Midwest so I'm sure your car will be solid as long as it's been taken proper care of since then. Being in Pittsburgh you're pretty close to DPI out in Akron, too. I've never had major work done there but Josh helped me out with a flaky starter on my last road trip (and probably kept me from getting stranded in Nebraska).

I didn't see the throttle shield in the engine bay pics in the other thread. If you don't have the recall done, I'd try to avoid snow or freezing rain. I've gotten caught out in the snow in mine before and the car didn't perform that badly but it's every other idiot on the road that you'd have to worry about. I talked to Dave at MW about cold weather operation and he said it should be OK with the 20W50 oil even at cold temps but to let it warm up a bit before driving if it's below freezing.

Good luck, please keep us updated on your trip!

[dn010]

What coil are you running?

[opethmike]

Have you checked in the spark plug wells for water intrusion?