Rebuilding fuel distributor

[SupercoolBill]

From my rebuild thread on this same forum--

Today we installed the rebuilt fuel distributor on the intake assembly, hooked up all of the fuel lines to the FD, put the injectors in empty water bottles. Plugged in the fuel pump and jumpered the fuel pump relay.

We got all kinds of fuel out of lines #1 & #3 with the air flow plate not being depressed at all. Nothing out of all of the other lines. Pushed the plate down still nothing out of the other lines. Unplugged the fuel pump. Decided to swap line and injector #3 with line with injector #2. Plugged fuel pump back in.

Same thing,..no fuel out of line #3 (now on port #2) but all kids of fuel spraying out of line #2 (now on port #3). We pushed the plate down and eventually started getting fuel out of the other ports (#2,4,5,&6). So ports #1 & #3 are feeding all the time for some reason.

Needless to say we are pretty frustrated at this point. My guess is that the fuel distributor is shimmed incorrect so that ports #1 & #3 are feeding fuel when they shouldn't be.

The most frustrating thing of all is that the fuel distributor looked perfect inside. So the issue was probably just our injectors and maybe rich/lean adjustment.

Not sure where to go from here besides coughing up the money for a new fuel distributor.

Thoughts? Anyone know how to properly shim these?

I found out that other cars had the six port fuel distributor with an external adjustment for each port. Anyone know if one of these would work on a DeLorean? I really like the idea of the external adjustment vs. The shim design.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[Bitsyncmaster]

From my rebuild thread on this same forum--

Today we installed the rebuilt fuel distributor on the intake assembly, hooked up all of the fuel lines to the FD, put the injectors in empty water bottles. Plugged in the fuel pump and jumpered the fuel pump relay.

We got all kinds of fuel out of lines #1 & #3 with the air flow plate not being depressed at all. Nothing out of all of the other lines. Pushed the plate down still nothing out of the other lines. Unplugged the fuel pump. Decided to swap line and injector #3 with line with injector #2. Plugged fuel pump back in.

Same thing,..no fuel out of line #3 (now on port #2) but all kids of fuel spraying out of line #2 (now on port #3). We pushed the plate down and eventually started getting fuel out of the other ports (#2,4,5,&6). So ports #1 & #3 are feeding all the time for some reason.

Needless to say we are pretty frustrated at this point. My guess is that the fuel distributor is shimmed incorrect so that ports #1 & #3 are feeding fuel when they shouldn't be.

The most frustrating thing of all is that the fuel distributor looked perfect inside. So the issue was probably just our injectors and maybe rich/lean adjustment.

Not sure where to go from here besides coughing up the money for a new fuel distributor.

Thoughts? Anyone know how to properly shim these?

I found out that other cars had the six port fuel distributor with an external adjustment for each port. Anyone know if one of these would work on a DeLorean? I really like the idea of the external adjustment vs. The shim design.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Here is the data plate on my adjustable FD. This unit has always been on my car so don't know if anyone has opened it. I did a very small adjustment on one or two of the ports.

[SupercoolBill]

Here is the data plate on my adjustable FD. This unit has always been on my car so don't know if anyone has opened it. I did a very small adjustment on one or two of the ports.

Interesting. Do you think someone swapped it out at some point or do you think it came origonal on the car?
I'm wondering if the adjustable ones were more expensive so they switched to the non-adjustable ones at some point.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[dmcnc]

It's definitely not original. The #076 model came off Volvo 260s and it was non-adjustable just like the Delorean. The fact that the top section is adjustable means it came off a different unit during a rebuild. Hervey used to do this. Here is an example of a #109 unit (Original Delorean FD) with an adjustable top: https://www.specialtauto.com/node/123

Interesting. Do you think someone swapped it out at some point or do you think it came origonal on the car?
I'm wondering if the adjustable ones were more expensive so they switched to the non-adjustable ones at some point.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[82DMC12]

There seems to be a lot of DeLoreans with the "green label" fuel distributor. My 1982 has it and it has had it since long before Hervey was ever a thing. I'm thinking it was just a common replacement part that mechanics or dealerships sourced when they couldn't find original DeLorean parts anymore after bankruptcy.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[Bitsyncmaster]

Interesting. Do you think someone swapped it out at some point or do you think it came origonal on the car?
I'm wondering if the adjustable ones were more expensive so they switched to the non-adjustable ones at some point.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

I think mine was cheaper than a stock one. I would guess there were more of them on the market. I seem to remember Hervey sold them cheaper then his price for the stock one.

[SupercoolBill]

I think mine was cheaper than a stock one. I would guess there were more of them on the market. I seem to remember Hervey sold them cheaper then his price for the stock one.

Hmmm....so you get a fuel distributor with more features for less money. Very cool.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[SupercoolBill]

I mean correct me if I am wrong but wouldn't it be quite advantageous to have the adjustable one vs. the non-adjustable one? From what I have read and seen you want all of your injectors feeding exactly the same volume of fuel if possible. Not sure what you'd do to fix this on a non-adjustable one beside trying new injectors and hoses to see if that fixes it.
Am I over thinking this? Are the adjuster screws never really needed or used? Just another place for a leak?

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[SupercoolBill]

It's definitely not original. The #076 model came off Volvo 260s and it was non-adjustable just like the Delorean. The fact that the top section is adjustable means it came off a different unit during a rebuild. Hervey used to do this. Here is an example of a #109 unit (Original Delorean FD) with an adjustable top: https://www.specialtauto.com/node/123

That is sexy,...I may have to buy it.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[82DMC12]

I mean correct me if I am wrong but wouldn't it be quite advantageous to have the adjustable one vs. the non-adjustable one? From what I have read and seen you want all of your injectors feeding exactly the same volume of fuel if possible. Not sure what you'd do to fix this on a non-adjustable one beside trying new injectors and hoses to see if that fixes it.
Am I over thinking this? Are the adjuster screws never really needed or used? Just another place for a leak?

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Yes and no. No one is replacing the original non-adjustable FD with the adjustable just so they have the additional flexibility. If the original one is working correctly, no adjustment is needed. If the injectors aren't filling six jars evenly, it tends to be an injector problem and not a FD problem.

I would definitely not try to correct flow volume with the adjusters unless I had already replaced the injectors and all the fuel lines and confirmed correct fuel pressure with a gauge - and had the fuel distributor professionally rebuilt so you know there is nothing at all possible remaining except for fine adjustment per port.

I think you should just replace all six injectors and try again. When I test my flow rate, I use six mason jars and hold the air plate down maybe half an inch from rest and hold it down for about 20 seconds. While it's spraying, check each injector and make sure the pattern looks even like a narrow umbrella of atomized fuel. No drippage allowed. If the umbrella is cocked to one side, that's not good either. Release the plate and make sure there is no dripping afterwards. Then remove all six mason jars, remembering which one goes where and set them on a table and compare the fuel levels. As long as they are within a couple millimeters of fuel level, the engine is going to run fine.