Hello all
Over the years, I've found this forum incredibly useful. Despite being far far away from most owners, I’ve had the chance to meet some wonderful fellow owners, and masters in the DeLorean world – Dave and Julee Swingle and Chris Nicholson to be exact!
At the suggestion of another owner, I’m posting a mods list here for the community. My focus has always been individualizing my car, with minor mods that are entirely reversible should I ever sell.
I’ve left out general maintenance and safety items eg tyres, coolant bottle, oil changes. Even though the car was all-original to start with, I strongly believe it’s not worth keeping critical safety items on the car just for original looks. Don’t worry, all these parts are safely stored away!
This is what I started with:
VIN4322
~2000miles
2 USA owners until about 2010
Imported to Australia in 2010 – never registered as LHD drive cars here must be over 30 years old
Bought by myself in Feb 2012.
Over the past 9 years, pretty much all the usual work done on a low-mileage car – fuel system, cooling, AC, brakes, suspension. Just about to do fuel lines.
Exterior mods:
LED headlights
Clear front turn signals with white/amber LED switchbacks and LED flasher relay.
Bosch aero wipers
LED side marker lights
LED tail lights
LED license plate lights
LED 3rd brake light
Tinted tail light covers
LED rear fog light (cabin switched)
LED 3rd reverse light
LED door and courtesy lights
Hella Supertones run off a relay
Lowered suspension and adjustable shocks from DeLorean Europe
Interior mods:
Ecliptech shift light
Shift light buzzer
LED AC panel bulbs
Replaced 12V socket
Battery cutoff switch in battery compartment
Digital door lock module
Clock with backup battery
Stainless steel shift knob
Engine mods:
Dave Mckeen’s RPM relay, ran relay and fan fail relay
Dave McKeen’s microprocessor controlled idle ECU, with idle microswitch removed, and 100rpm AC bump. Idle set at 900rpm
WOT switch override in cabin
Stainless header bottle
AC zener diode
Ceramic coated dual headers
Dual magnaflow mufflers
K&N air filter
Cold air intake with stovepipe removed
Larger metal throttle body spacer
Ignition timing advanced from 13 to 15 degrees
Higher output alternator
MSD Blaster 2 Coil
GM HEI ignition module
Still to do:
Volvo B28E throttle body plates (no springs) – the DeLorean throttle body plates have a large spring to impede airflow.
Volvo B28E ignition distributor with base timing 10-12 degrees
8.5mm Magnecor wires
New spark plugs
Primary pressure check
New fuel lines
For real-world reference, I’m down to 8.7s for 0-60mph without trying to launch hard. I’m confident of getting this down further once some of the Volvo parts are in.
I’ve put a few pics on my instagram @lukasdmar, rather than posting them here.
I hope the community finds this useful, feel free to ask me any questions.