Placed an offer on a Delorean today

[OverlandMan]

At the last DCS two venders wearing DeLorean baseball caps assaulted me. They said this is kjet country then they wrapped a fuel line around my neck.

this literally made me spit out my drink this morning...classic!

Okay so a Long time member of the forum dropped by today, he gave my car the once over. First of all it does still have the Kjet system in place, new headers, advanced cams and exhaust work done. She again started on the first pull so all systems are in order and the fuel tank may have a gallon of gas or so. She needs a good cleaning, new tires, as these appear to be from 1995. Got questions, ask away. Oh owners manual was in the glove box. And she's an oct of 81 build but has the digital clock but no gas flad hood.

Just because everything seems to be working doesn't mean you shouldn't be concerned with safety. I would still recommend checking the fuel lines for safety sake, now that you've confirmed you are still running K-JET. I'm one of those a-holes who's dealt with an engine fire in one of these cars due to original fuel lines rupturing.

[David T]

Many Deloreans are still running on original fuel lines and we don't see very many problems. That would indicate that it is probably how the lines are handled more than just age. If a line gets kinked, bent, or twisted it is prone to burst. That kind of abuse isn't visible because the lines are covered in rubber. As for safety, I would be more concerned about how old the tires are, if the frame is rotten, and if all of the recalls have been done. Inspect the fuseblock area and the TAB's. Carrying a fire extinguisher is a good idea.

[louielouie2000]

Many Deloreans are still running on original fuel lines and we don't see very many problems. That would indicate that it is probably how the lines are handled more than just age. If a line gets kinked, bent, or twisted it is prone to burst. That kind of abuse isn't visible because the lines are covered in rubber. As for safety, I would be more concerned about how old the tires are, if the frame is rotten, and if all of the recalls have been done. Inspect the fuseblock area and the TAB's. Carrying a fire extinguisher is a good idea.

For under $300 and roughly an hour installation time, why would you NOT immediately upgrade the fuel lines? After all, you have no clue how the original lines have been handled by an unknown number of hands with unknown skill over their nearly 40 year history. Yes, things like tires & trailing arm bolts are very important safety items... but a failure from one of those is far less likely to destroy your brand new investment than an engine fire would.

For what it's worth, ALWAYS replace the copper crush washers any time you break into the DeLorean fuel system, too. Seeing DeLoreans being consumed by engine fires is heartbreaking & preventable.

[ssdelorean]

[QUOTE=UK Chris P.;243678][QUOTE= why would I try messing with a good thing?

My thoughts exactly.........I love the Bosch K-Jet system.[/QUOTE]


With over 217k miles on my original fuel lines I agree.

Many Deloreans are still running on original fuel lines and we don't see very many problems. That would indicate that it is probably how the lines are handled more than just age. If a line gets kinked, bent, or twisted it is prone to burst. That kind of abuse isn't visible because the lines are covered in rubber. As for safety, I would be more concerned about how old the tires are, if the frame is rotten, and if all of the recalls have been done. Inspect the fuseblock area and the TAB's. Carrying a fire extinguisher is a good idea.

For under $300 and roughly an hour installation time, why would you NOT immediately upgrade the fuel lines? After all, you have no clue how the original lines have been handled by an unknown number of hands with unknown skill over their nearly 40 year history. Yes, things like tires & trailing arm bolts are very important safety items... but a failure from one of those is far less likely to destroy your brand new investment than an engine fire would.

For a car that has sat for years and you don't know the history - this would be a reason that I would replace the original fuel lines. If not now, keep a close eye on them and an extinguisher handy just in case. If taken care of and driven regularly, you should have no trouble with the original fuel lines or K-Jet system. It is the long period of un-use that causes many of the system's issues.

[David T]

In my experience, a line that has been abused, fails pretty soon after the abuse. If the car has been driven for a while and the lines are not an issue you are probably OK. Sitting and not being used doesn't seem to cause the lines to fail. The point about buying a car and not knowing it's history is a valid point. In that case either change the hoses right away or take your chances for a little while, and if you don't have any problems you are probably OK. The K-Jet system runs at a pretty high pressure so if a hose doesn't fail quickly then it is probably safe. I still recommend having a fire extinguisher even if you replace the lines. New parts can fail too. You should never smell raw fuel except maybe during a cold start-up for a moment at most. If you have a persistent smell of fuel you MUST find and fix the source of the leak. On one car I saw the rivets in the fuel sender leaking. Sometimes the gasket is missing on the fuel sender or it just isn't tight enough. The pump boot can deteriorate and fill with fuel. A crush washer can have a tiny leak and you never see it because the fuel vaporizes as it leaks. If you burst a hose the motor will shut down but the fuel will leak all over. The RPM relay should shut the fuel pump down if it is working and wired correctly but the fuel will catch fire when it gets to the hot parts of the motor. If you do have a fire have the fire extinguisher in your hands when you open the engine cover. The fire will be small but once you open the engine cover and give it more air it will suddenly expand in size. No time to run and get the fire extinguisher if you want to minimize the damage. Once the fire gets too big, a hand-held fire extinguisher will not be enough. Try not to run the car and have a fire in your garage or you risk losing the garage too. If your garage is part of your house then the results can be very bad.

[About time]

Thanks guys, the car will go to my mechanic once she has plates on her. we'll give the car a once over together, I'll point out the things from my and another's list and allow him the liberty to change out anything he sees as dry/rotted or questionable.

It rained the other night and I left the car cover off on purpose, no leaks at all so that's another good thing, the car came with a Delorean cover so I can now slip that over her until she's ready for the road.

[Parzival]

Thanks guys, the car will go to my mechanic once she has plates on her. we'll give the car a once over together, I'll point out the things from my and another's list and allow him the liberty to change out anything he sees as dry/rotted or questionable.

It rained the other night and I left the car cover off on purpose, no leaks at all so that's another good thing, the car came with a Delorean cover so I can now slip that over her until she's ready for the road.

You're a Delorean owner now! Get out there and and change them fuel lines out yourself!
Do what I did, invite an experienced owner over to make sure you dont do something stupid (Likely in my case)
Dana AKA DMC-81 came over and we did what I think has never been done before, we did the entire valley job in one sitting, one day with no breaks! You dont have to go that crazy. But the fuel lines are not to hard and not expensive. I know people still run the original lines, but its not like they cost a thousand dollars, just change em and then stand over your handy work like and automotive god!... well you'll feel like one anyway
Or pay someone to do. I knew my exhaust studs would break, so I paid to have DMCFL that. Some jobs are good for owners to do them selves and others are subject to the need for more equipped facilities with a lift, or better diagnostics.
Ether way you have the whole of the club behind you. We all want to see you take the best care of that car as possible.

[FABombjoy]

I figured it's not the age of the fuel lines but how they've been treated. I found myself more than once leaning in to do something only to find that I was levering an arm against one of the hoses or barbed ends. There's fuel lines errrrverywhere so it's hard not to do that once in a while.

[Jonathan]

I figured it's not the age of the fuel lines but how they've been treated. I found myself more than once leaning in to do something only to find that I was levering an arm against one of the hoses or barbed ends. There's fuel lines errrrverywhere so it's hard not to do that once in a while.

Indianapolis Jones agrees with you.

[About time]

Another small hiccup in the world of owning this car which I almost don't legally own yet'ish.

So the title comes, however there is no mileage writing on the title anywhere, little girl at the desk tells me I need to get a mileage verification report done by a police officer.

She prints the form for me and I say, how can an officer verify the actual mileage, the officer can only read what the odometer states, I took a photo of it for you if you'd like to see it?

The officer is sworn to uphold the law of the land she states, Oh, so that explains why so many in law get arrested (I think to myself).

So being I can't legally drive this car sitting in my driveway, how do I get an officer to come verify the mileage? She says to call them.

I go home, do just that and they say they will put my on a list of stops and stop over. Problem I'm having is, the car is not titled in my name yet and the form has a place for me to verify I'm the legal owner, I have nothing more then a canceled check at this point. It's gonna be interesting to see how this plays out.

Wish me luck, will ya.