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Thread: The further adventures of #2613

  1. #101
    Owner since 2007 Farrar's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Fort Lauderdale

    Posts:    4,740

    My VIN:    02613

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    At long last, all of my parts have arrived. Some of them seem to have come on a slow boat from China, but my wire is U.S.-made. My project to tackle the rear lights can now begin.

    I'm starting by making new taillight boards, using templates provided by Anders Bergman in Stockholm to the DeLorean Restoration Projects group on Facebook. (Isn't the internet amazing?) Bergman made the diagrams and then sent them to be laser cut by a local shop, but I'm using them instead as a template for cutting by hand, in part because the sockets I am using have a different footprint than the ones he used. I've printed the templates out and taped them to the plastic for cutting and drilling. The plastic I am using is plain Delrin, which has good heat and weather resistance, and it is the same thickness as the stock taillight boards.

    cutting.jpg

    (I will not cut the "DMC" into the board. In my opinion, that's just silly.)

    I will use 14 AWG wire (overkill for LEDs, but why not) and re-wire the circuit from the fuse box rearward: this will be a good opportunity to relocate the brake light fuse from underneath the dashboard to the unused #18 position in the fuse box—something evidently already done on later VIN vehicles.
    3.0L, automatic, carbureted

  2. #102
    Owner since 2007 Farrar's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Fort Lauderdale

    Posts:    4,740

    My VIN:    02613

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    Today is my DeLoreanniversary!

    It's been 13 years since I told my brand new girlfriend I would be out of town for a weekend and drove #2613 home. What a long, strange trip it's been...

    The weather is finally cooling down here in Equatorial Florida, and I've got my to-do list ready.
    3.0L, automatic, carbureted

  3. #103
    Owner since 2007 Farrar's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Fort Lauderdale

    Posts:    4,740

    My VIN:    02613

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    Waiting on parts

    Well, I changed my mind mid-project.

    I'm going to use professionally-cut boards. Cutting them by hand is fun, but I've been offered a set of unused boards from Josh S.

    ...and as long as I'm re-wiring Fuse #18, I might as well do the whole thing. I really hate the design of the fuse & relay compartment and want to do something similar to what Josh S in his LS-swapped car, using his bracket design as the starting point. Big thanks to Josh for allowing me to ask a load of stupid questions
    3.0L, automatic, carbureted

  4. #104
    Owner since 2007 Farrar's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Fort Lauderdale

    Posts:    4,740

    My VIN:    02613

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    Mission creep has set in again, and a new problem has appeared.

    In 2018 when I did my a/c repairs, I installed a 12"x25" condenser. This was after eyeballing the OEM condenser. Laying them side by side I realized the one I bought was an inch too short. But the weather was warming up and I wanted to finish the job, so I installed the inch-shorter one and bought one of the correct size for later installation. Well, now the a/c has leaked out all of its refrigerant and has been sitting for months, which means I might as well tear it apart again and install the 12"x26" condenser this time. The weather here is not yet very hot, so now is the time to do this work. This is where mission creep comes in: "As long as you have the car in the air," I said to myself, "why don't you do the front brakes?" A few years ago I warped the front brake discs on a panic stop. They hadn't been turned yet, so I had them turned. Then last year I warped the front discs again after a panic stop. I'm tired of this. When figuring what to choose between DeLoreanGo's vented disc setup and Josh S's slightly more expensive setup, I chose Josh S's for reasons of simplicity and domestic availability of parts. So yes, as long as I have the car in the air, I might as well swap out the condenser *and* upgrade the front brakes. While I'm doing the a/c work, I will inspect all of the hoses, because after ten years it may be time to replace them.

    So that's the mission creep part of this story. Now here's the new problem: the rear quarter panel glass is starting to fall out. I don't think the rear quarter panels are terribly difficult to remove, but while I have them removed I will inspect the door strut mounts and replace them if needed. If memory serves, the strut mounts do not wiggle, but they aren't exactly straight, either, so as long as I have access I might as well check them out. Do the work now to save doing the work later, right?

    Parts are on the way. Stay tuned.
    3.0L, automatic, carbureted

  5. #105
    Owner since 2007 Farrar's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Fort Lauderdale

    Posts:    4,740

    My VIN:    02613

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    Getting ready to install Josh S's front brake upgrade

    Most of the brake parts are here! The work will begin soon.

    parts1.jpg

    parts2.jpg

    Not pictured here are a few odds and ends, shop supplies, &c. (Who wants to see a bottle of brake fluid? Nor do I.) I'll also treat #2613 to new lug nuts: the current ones are beginning to rust.

    I'll document the work as fully as possible.
    3.0L, automatic, carbureted

  6. #106
    Owner since 2007 Farrar's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Fort Lauderdale

    Posts:    4,740

    My VIN:    02613

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    I have some rust remediation to do.

    When I put the car in the air to do the brake work, I noticed some epoxy starting to separate beside the passenger-side tow hook.

    rust2.jpg

    I also noticed, as you will have from the above photo, that the tow hook is bent downward slightly. I tried to push it back up, but it is sturdier than it looks!

    When I'm done with the brakes and a/c, I'll have to raise the car higher and start chipping away at some epoxy so that I can do some painting. I still have plenty of black Rustoleum (the oil-based, brush-on kind) from when I stripped and painted the headlight buckets. (Yes, the frame is mostly black underneath in the front. I don't know why.)
    3.0L, automatic, carbureted

  7. #107
    EFI'd dn010's Avatar
    Join Date:  Jul 2011

    Location:  Florida: Pinellas County

    Posts:    2,096

    My VIN:    5003 Never placed Concourse

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    You may have a frame that they sprayed with undercoating.
    -----Dan B.

  8. #108
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Northern NJ

    Posts:    8,570

    My VIN:    10757 1st place Concourse 1998

    The '83's were mostly undercoated but the whole frame, not just the front. A PO could have painted it or if there were any repairs done it might have gotten painted. If it is undercoating it should be removed and the bare metal inspected. Undercoating eventually gets rock hard and water can get between it and the metal and then the metal rots. Hard to see behind the rock hard undercoating. Similar problem with epoxy paint. If it is no longer adhered to the metal it means moisture can get to the metal, not good. the epoxy should be removed where it is loose and the metal prepped and painted to prevent rust.
    David Teitelbaum

  9. #109
    EFI'd dn010's Avatar
    Join Date:  Jul 2011

    Location:  Florida: Pinellas County

    Posts:    2,096

    My VIN:    5003 Never placed Concourse

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    Quote Originally Posted by David T View Post
    The '83's were mostly undercoated but the whole frame, not just the front. A PO could have painted it or if there were any repairs done it might have gotten painted. If it is undercoating it should be removed and the bare metal inspected. Undercoating eventually gets rock hard and water can get between it and the metal and then the metal rots. Hard to see behind the rock hard undercoating. Similar problem with epoxy paint. If it is no longer adhered to the metal it means moisture can get to the metal, not good. the epoxy should be removed where it is loose and the metal prepped and painted to prevent rust.
    I couldn’t remember if it was early or late frames they undercoated but I do know that I took the frame from very early vin 712 and it had undercoating mainly in the front. I was lucky there was no rust or damage under it when I stripped it down.
    -----Dan B.

  10. #110
    Owner since 2007 Farrar's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Fort Lauderdale

    Posts:    4,740

    My VIN:    02613

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    Quote Originally Posted by dn010 View Post
    I couldn’t remember if it was early or late frames they undercoated but I do know that I took the frame from very early vin 712 and it had undercoating mainly in the front. I was lucky there was no rust or damage under it when I stripped it down.
    Fascinating. I didn't know about that, so I assumed it was done by a previous owner along with reinforcing the front crumple extension (plates welded on to effectively double the thickness in that area, before black coating was applied).

    #2613 is an interesting car in that it is late enough to not be considered "early" (August '81 build) but has many features of "early" cars (I had to cover the "side vent" holes in the underbody, for example). The undercoating is indeed absent mid-frame. There is black undercoating present in the front, and there *was* black undercoating present in the rear when I first bought the car, but it was removed when the engine was swapped: damage to the frame epoxy was found on the engine cradle (I was unable to see it with the engine installed) and there was some rust near the left tow hook. The mechanic took a wire wheel to the area to see if any damage was lurking beneath the undercoating; fortunately none was found, and the epoxy was in good shape. The damaged area had 10 coats of Rustoleum "smoke grey" brushed on prior to engine reinstallation. The color nearly matches the original frame epoxy's color but is slightly lighter to my eyes.

    I hope to upgrade #2613's suspension to coilovers next year. At that time with the front of the frame so exposed I will wire-wheel away the black undercoating, and repair any damaged epoxy with Rustoleum "smoke grey" enamel, which holds up very well once its long cure time has elapsed.

    But first, the front brakes...
    3.0L, automatic, carbureted

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