Rear Quarter panal partial removal question.

[hippieman9]

any suggestions on how to get the rear of the quarter panel separated from the pontoon just enough to replace that "tape" like seal between the air intake funnels and pontoons? I just purchased the new rubber ones from DeLorean Go. Arran stated the quarters must be pulled away from the pontoon. I was hoping to not have to remove it completely. Thanks for any suggestions.

[David T]

Cut the sea, gluel and hide the cut around the back. It is not worth it to remove the panel just for that seal.

[hippieman9]

Cut the sea, gluel and hide the cut around the back. It is not worth it to remove the panel just for that seal.

Sorry that's not the way I like to do things. thank for the suggestion. over time the seal will dry and shrink and the seam will expand. Thanks, I'll figure it out.

[David T]

Big job to remove the quarter panel just for that seal. You have to remove the rear fascia, the door weatherstripping, the tee panel, a lot of stuff. Your choice. Unless you are entering a Concours it isn't worth it. The original seals were a plastic covering over a foam ring. The foam turned into dust so the seal loses it shape. A very good replacement is a 3/4 square foam weatherstripping you can buy in Home Depot or Lowes. You cut to length and with the right glue you can't tell the difference unless you look closely and know what you are looking at. Most Deloreans don't even have that seal anymore. You can do more damage taking that fender off than it's worth to have an intact seal. It was only meant to cover up the edges of the large hole in the pontoon, strictly cosmetic. Don't let me talk you out of doing it, I just want you to know what you are in for. Of course you have to do both seals so they look even so you are going to disassemble the rear of the car. Make alignment marks so when you put the panels back on you know where they go so you can save some time aligning them.

[eight8toy]

This reminds me of changing out the steering shaft bushing. I spent a lot of hours pulling everything apart to change it once. Next time I'm just gonna split open the bushing and shove it in there. Some jobs on this car aren't worth going for 100% lol.

[Josh]

Sorry that's not the way I like to do things. thank for the suggestion. over time the seal will dry and shrink and the seam will expand. Thanks, I'll figure it out.

Well then pull the outer door seals, rocker panel, and rear bumper. Seems hardly worth it for those seals. I took them off my car when repaining the pontoons and my 300+ hp engine is breathing just fine.

[DMC-81]

I didn't have to completely remove the rocker panels when I removed my quarter panels (or the T panel). I suggest removing the rear fascia, the valences (100703 and 100704 ), and if necessary the outer door seals. You will need to remove the 4 rear screws from the rocker panels if you need to loosen or remove the forward lower portion of the quarter panel. You will only need one or two inches clearance to replace the seal so I would leave the outer door seal and rocker panel screws until the end and see if you have to remove them too. Just be careful you don't twist the panel.

Here are a couple pictures of what you normally can't see if it helps:









There are more in the Exterior Restoration album ( pages 3 to 5 ) on my profile as well if you want additional ones.

[vwdmc16]

This reminds me of changing out the steering shaft bushing. I spent a lot of hours pulling everything apart to change it once. Next time I'm just gonna split open the bushing and shove it in there. Some jobs on this car aren't worth going for 100% lol.

I have to disagree, the column bushing it a pain, but when it fails it makes the car so terrible to drive. if you use the right part it should last the life of the car, longer than the original. Id never recommend splitting that bushing or using the non Delrin ones. last bushing I did didnt even need the column to come out, disconnected the steering shaft and slid the collapsible section in the car through the firewall. Then tap the bushing in from inside the car with a mallet and large drift, slid the steering shaft back and tighten up the u joint, didnt even need to jack up the car. I accessed the shaft joint after removing the fuel filler access panel in the trunk. It took less than an hour (full disclosure its the fourth car ive done that job on and this car was really clean and corrosion free.)

Sorry that's not the way I like to do things. thank for the suggestion. over time the seal will dry and shrink and the seam will expand. Thanks, I'll figure it out.

Good for you! Do it right or do it again I say. Unfortunately I need to do the same job on my car too.

[JAZ_DMC]

I didn't have to completely remove the rocker panels when I removed my quarter panels (or the T panel). I suggest removing the rear fascia, the valences (100703 and 100704 ), and if necessary the outer door seals. You will need to remove the 4 rear screws from the rocker panels if you need to loosen or remove the forward lower portion of the quarter panel. You will only need one or two inches clearance to replace the seal so I would leave the outer door seal and rocker panel screws until the end and see if you have to remove them too. Just be careful you don't twist the panel.

Here are a couple pictures of what you normally can't see if it helps:









There are more in the Exterior Restoration album ( pages 3 to 5 ) on my profile as well if you want additional ones.

Thank you for these pictures! Great reference.

[mluder]

Sorry that's not the way I like to do things. thank for the suggestion. over time the seal will dry and shrink and the seam will expand. Thanks, I'll figure it out.

Yep... it might dry out and crack over time... but how much time? 2-3 years? Maybe more... Maybe less. But you've already head about the number of hours of work involved in removing the panel... And if the panel has never been removed you may encounter rusted, seized, or stripped screws and then the fun really begins. And then after you do one... you have to do a whole other side.

I bet you could buy a roll of the weather stripping David mentioned and that would be enough to replace it every year for the next 10 years and it might take 15 minutes each time... That adds up to a little over 2 hours spread over 10 years. Like the man said - there are some jobs that aren't worth it and this is coming from a guy who sanded the rust from every bolt head he took off his engine before reassembly. There's a right way and a wrong way and sometimes an acceptable alternative.

Cheers
Steve