VIN 11596 Frame Swap - a rolling frame-off restoration

[FLUX @88]

Thank you! Maybe after I give it another wash and do a barkeepers friend job on it I'll get around to taking some nice beauty shots. Been a very long time since I did that.

I think it's time then with all the work and hours put into it! Some great shots are needed!

[82DMC12]

Hey, it's been a couple weeks since my last update. I actually had my car at the alignment shop for nearly a week while they waited for their best tech to come back from illness and then get caught up on some other cars before they could actually work on mine. That was a bit frustrating but the results are in. Looks like the alignment is about as good as possible, the only thing I could do even better is to add camber adjusting front upper control arms, but honestly they aren't too far out and the tires will rot away before they wear out anyway. I haven't had a chance to drive on the interstate yet but I think it will be a smooth ride now that the rack is sorted out and the alignment is spot-on.

I also had them align the headlights since I had replaced all the hardware and powder coated all the brackets and buckets. I didn't really have a good reference when I reassembled everything so I left the alignment up to them. This morning I washed the car to get shop dust off of it and I re-installed the black headlight trim finishers.

Next job? I'm going to sand down the tie rods and paint them with black POR 15 so they aren't scratched up from alignment guys using vise grips on them!

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[SupercoolBill]

Yeah it is a bummer that it is a flat rate for an alignment at most shops. Especially when everything was close to being fine, nothing was seized up, etc.
I don't understand why they didn't put some flat spots on the tie rods so that they could be adjusted without getting all knurled up.

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[82DMC12]

Yeah it is a bummer that it is a flat rate for an alignment at most shops. Especially when everything was close to being fine, nothing was seized up, etc.
I don't understand why they didn't put some flat spots on the tie rods so that they could be adjusted without getting all knurled up.

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Yeah that would have been nice - if they had put flat spots in then Lotus could have claimed they "added lightness"! Oh well. I don't expect to need to visit the alignment rack again for a very long time.

[82DMC12]

Well it's been about three weeks since my last update but not really too much to add!

I ended up taking the car back to the alignment shop because the steering just felt kind of funny afterwards. The more I drove it, the more I didn't like it. The issue was the return-to-center was not very pronounced and I felt like I had to "put" the wheel back into center coming out of a corner. It would mostly slide through your fingers as you straighten out but then it needed a little more nudge to get straight. It's not like it was notchy or anything, it just felt overly stiff which I now believe was caused by tire scrub and perhaps uneven caster. The toe was also 4/5 of the recommended amount.

I decided the car was a bit too low for my taste so I raised it about 1/2" on all four corners and make really damn sure the frame was squared up and parallel to the ground. Then I loosened the front sway extension screws and took the tension off the LCA's by loosening the DPI caster limiting arms. Then with the weight the of car on the suspension, tightened everything back up so that the caster is back to a neutral, stock position.

Back to the alignment shop it went and this time I think we got it pretty good. The steering feels a lot better now.

This morning I replaced the tie rod end nyloc nuts (M10 x 1.25 fine thread) because I had removed them too many times for the nylon insert to work very well. That's a hard nut to find locally so I got them from Belmetric along with some other hardware to round out my home backup hardware kit.

That's about it for now. It's been really hot the last two weeks, like 95 deg or more and high humidity so I don't really like having the car sit out in the parking under the sun like that. That's what a daily driver is for. Now today it's finally 71F but strong chance of rain. Figures!

Oh yeah, I also painted the tie rods with gloss black POR15 now that my alignment adventures are over.

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[82DMC12]

Two months since my last update, but all that really means is all is well, all systems are working normally, and nothing really to report. I've been driving the D to work here and there as long as the weather looks good and it won't get baked in 100F sun in the parking lot. Now that fall seems to officially be here I might be drive it a little more often for errands or to the office. I am very busy with work, travel, and being a dad to a 2 year old but I did make time to attend a car show that turned out to be super cool.

The story, in brief, is that a local "country-club-ish car club" reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in showing my car at a somewhat private, roped-off event. I said sure, sounds more interesting than the usual empty parking lot hangout. It wasn't until the night before that I received tickets in my email for "Kelce Car Jam" - this is a charity event held by Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce (yes, 2x Superbowl winner, 4th most receptions by a TE in history, future HOF'er and current NFL superstar being Mahomes' #1 pass target). His foundation "87 & Running" provides opportunities to inner city kids in Kansas City particularly in automotive-related fields.

Travis wanted to do a block party, BBQ, and car show this year and I'm told he specifically wanted a DeLorean at it. So that's where it started.

Word first got out when Travis was on his brother Jason Kelce's podcast "New Heights" where he hyped up the car show and said the car he is most looking forward to seeing is the DeLorean, being a big BTTF fan as a kid.

I did the show and it was a ton of fun, got to meet the man himself, got a signed football, and photos of him in my DeLorean went viral on the Chiefs facebook page, instagram, and tiktok. No doubt also fueled by Taylor Swift attending Sunday's game and being spotted with Travis after the game cruising in his Chevelle and shutting down a restaurant with other teammates.

Enjoy the pics!

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[Timeless]

Awesome!

[Ron]

+1

[Helirich]

Very nice!

[SupercoolBill]

I feel like this is the story of child growing up and becoming a successful adult only it is a car. So cool. Congratulations man!

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