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Thread: Steering column replacements?

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2011

    Posts:    303

    Steering column replacements?

    Hi,

    It's been a very long time since I posted anything to this forum. I bought my car in 1999 and was pretty active for awhile. Life happened, I moved a bit (Michigan over to Los Angeles), stored the Delorean, but never stopped caring for the car. She still starts up every time and I put about 500 miles on her yearly when I'm back in town where she's stored (stored near my parents).
    Life is changing again and I'm heading back to Michigan. I was checking in on the house we bought and was able to move the Delorean into her new garage.

    DMC4512.jpg

    Now onto my question. My steering column metal mesh cover is completely cut in two. I have spares from all my past parts cars, but they are either broken a bit, or have been broken and someone glued/welded things back together. It's been a long time since i've monitored these boards or been involved in all the new and updated parts. Is there anything new to fix/replace this type of issue? I really don't want to put a fixed one in there if I don't have to.

    Thanks everyone! Looking forward to getting back into things.

    Erik
    04512
    Last edited by dmcerik; 08-23-2019 at 11:11 PM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Drive Stainless's Avatar
    Join Date:  Mar 2016

    Posts:    576

    Hi Erik,

    There is no new way other than to weld it or buy new. If you were to weld it, I would use a file afterward to shape the repair to replicate as much of the original mesh profile as possible. By doing this, we hope to reduce the likelihood that the repaired portion will be significantly stronger than the rest of the mesh.


    Quote Originally Posted by dmcerik View Post
    Hi,

    It's been a very long time since I posted anything to this forum. I bought my car in 1999 and was pretty active for awhile. Life happened, I moved a bit (Michigan over to Los Angeles), stored the Delorean, but never stopped caring for the car. She still starts up every time and I put about 500 miles on her yearly when I'm back in town where she's stored (stored near my parents).
    Life is changing again and I'm heading back to Michigan. I was checking in on the house we bought and was able to move the Delorean into her new garage.

    DMC4512.jpg

    Now onto my question. My steering column metal mesh cover is completely cut in two. I have spares from all my past parts cars, but they are either broken a bit, or have been broken and someone glued/welded things back together. It's been a long time since i've monitored these boards or been involved in all the new and updated parts. Is there anything new to fix/replace this type of issue? I really don't want to put a fixed one in there if I don't have to.

    Thanks everyone! Looking forward to getting back into things.

    Erik
    04512

  3. #3
    Senior Member - Owner since 2003 Patrick C's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Northern Michigan

    Posts:    1,147

    My VIN:    1880

    Club(s):   (DCO) (DCUK)

    Hi Erik! Welcome back to Michigan! I remember your frame swap at Ken’s warehouse when I was living in Cincinnati.

    We are doing a fall driving tour in Traverse City in late September if you’ll be in the state by then!
    Patrick C.
    VIN 1880

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Northern NJ

    Posts:    8,581

    My VIN:    10757 1st place Concourse 1998

    There is no problem welding the cage to repair it. It is not supposed to break, only collapse in the event of a severe front end impact.
    David Teitelbaum

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Mar 2014

    Location:  Lansing, MI

    Posts:    490

    My VIN:    04194: 5-Speed, Black Int, 79 Peugeot 604 Manifold, 05052: 5-Speed, Gray Int, 78 Peugeot 604 manifol

    I had 4194's broken mesh welded before 2014 DCS. I haven't had any issues with it ever since.
    Andrew
    4194 Since 7/98
    5052 Since 7/14

    1972 Buick Riviera
    1974 Bricklin SV-1 177
    1982 AMC Eagle SX/4 (4.2 I6, 4 Speed)
    1983 Pontiac Trans Am (Knight Rider Conversion in progress)
    1985 Oldsmobile Toronado (daily driver)

    Solex carb and antenna television guru.

    "My carbon footprint is bigger than yours!" :-)

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2011

    Posts:    303

    Hey Patrick! Glad to see you're still on the forum. The car has been running great ever since that frame swap. No issues! I won't get into Michigan until October 2, otherwise a driving tour would have been nice. My wife has been wanting to go to Traverse City for years now.

    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick C View Post
    Hi Erik! Welcome back to Michigan! I remember your frame swap at Ken’s warehouse when I was living in Cincinnati.

    We are doing a fall driving tour in Traverse City in late September if you’ll be in the state by then!

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2011

    Posts:    303

    Thanks for the info guys.


    Quote Originally Posted by David T View Post
    There is no problem welding the cage to repair it. It is not supposed to break, only collapse in the event of a severe front end impact.

  8. #8
    DMC Midwest - 815.459.6439 DMCMW Dave's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Taylors SC

    Posts:    5,326

    My VIN:    (former)05429

    Club(s):   (DMWC) (DCUK)

    Hey Erik - -welcome back to the Midwest! I'm sure we'll see you around.
    Dave S
    DMC Midwest - retired but helping
    Greenville SC

  9. #9
    Daily Driver ssdelorean's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  NW Ohio

    Posts:    461

    My VIN:    16506

    Club(s):   (DCO) (DCUK)

    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick C View Post
    Hi Erik! Welcome back to Michigan! I remember your frame swap at Ken’s warehouse when I was living in Cincinnati.

    We are doing a fall driving tour in Traverse City in late September if you’ll be in the state by then!
    Glad to hear from you again! Can you still fit into the trunk? :-)
    I'm still running two of the replacement Grady shocks I bought from you. Just had them re-charged a few years ago.
    Over 224K and still driving the snot out of my car. All still original K-Jet much to the dismay of all the "unreliability" claims of it these recent years :-)
    Shannon Y
    www.ohiodeloreans.com
    www.facebook.com/ohiodeloreans
    ---
    1st angle drive - 58,027 miles (20 years) -- original
    2nd angle drive - 48,489 miles (21 years) -- original from donor
    3rd angle drive - 26,572 miles (2 years 3 months) -- DMCH
    4th angle drive - 21,988 miles (1 year 11 months) -- DMCH
    5th angle drive - 7,137 miles (10 months 2 days) -- DMCH
    6th angle drive - OVER 113,704 miles and counting (OVER 13 yr 1 month & counting) -- new Martin Gutkowski unit
    over 245K miles

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