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Thread: The Restoration of #1768

  1. #391
    Senior Member vwdmc16's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  sacramento

    Posts:    1,415

    My VIN:    1768

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    Hey guys,

    I decided to get a new brake booster as I felt my car's brake performance had declined over the last few months and pedal effort was higher than I remember before. After a quick test of driving around the block, then disconnecting and plugging the vacuum supply to the brake booster before another lap around the block; it was very easy to tel that my brake assist from the booster was pretty much gone. So a few days later a new booster arrived from DPI:









    Wasn't fun to install but not the worst job, I was able to get the old out and the new in without opening the hydraulic circuits, just gently pulling the master cylinder to the side. Impressions: The brakes were much more powerful again. Far less effort required, however the first 25% of brake application feels more sensitive than the original booster, not in a bad way but it something to get used to. I was able to compare it side by side with an original booster and the DPI does feel lighter to the touch.



    Continuing with brakes, Ive been trying a new Mazda Miata configuration: 2001+ 1.8 Sport brakes which I now feel is superior to the regular 1.8 miata brakes.

    larger calipers which still bolt onto the Shattenkirk brackets.





    270mm rotors, are a little bigger than the regular 1.8 and obviously bigger and vented over stock.






    1.8 vs 1.8 Sport:








    Being a larger set up it will not fit in a 14" wheel and its actually kind of tight in a DMC 15" wheel, a tight group of fitting was needed to clear. So some more development required but im quite happy with the performance of this caliper. For those of you wondering about the Stoptech kit I had, Im still going to use it, but im waiting to get a new custom sized caliper set so I can go four wheel StopTech.




  2. #392
    Senior Member vwdmc16's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  sacramento

    Posts:    1,415

    My VIN:    1768

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    Another late night experiment to improve the feel of my car on the road, increasing front Caster. I work on BMWs all day and whenever I align them I see how much Caster the front suspension has compared to other makes, such as a Delorean, or atleast my Delorean that only had 2.7 degrees of caster where some Bmws have 9 degrees. Caster is not adjustable stock so to allow this I could have to move the upper control arm rearward in relation to the lower arm.

    luckily there is about 10mm of material to remove on the the frame's shock tower, by adding a spacer to the rear side the upper arm moved in relation to the frame and lower arm, adding caster.


    Driver side:




    Shims for the test alignment, a full solid spacer will be made when I get the numbers I want.





    Moving the Upper control arms rearward 9mm gained me 2.8 degrees to a total of 5.5 caster. Need to tune that rear tow a bit more.




    No regrets with that modification, it really helped the way the car tracks down the freeway at high speed. Steering feels extra planted and centered, low speed steering effort has increase a little but not enough to complain about. The increased caster, front LCA braces and the wider 15" wheels have changed the front end characteristics quite alot over stock, and for the better in my opinion.




    After than I received some tired old original LCAs from a friend and decided to clean them up, box them, powdercoat, then install new bushings and balljoints. always good to have spares.










  3. #393
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2015

    Location:  Tacoma, Wa

    Posts:    2,208

    My VIN:    4877

    Club(s):   (PNDC)

    Looking good
    Rob Depew
    Tacoma, Wa
    '81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
    The Ressurection of 4877......
    Website
    YouTube
    My Patreon

  4. #394
    Senior Member vwdmc16's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  sacramento

    Posts:    1,415

    My VIN:    1768

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    Time for some new camshafts, I decided to pull the whole lump for a good clean and some more updates too:







    Im glad it came out with the Headers attached but it was a bit tight.






    Up on the stand, First remove the timing cover, valve covers and chains, then the rocker shaft can be pulled out


    yes I hide Oreos in the garage so the wife doesnt eat them all.


    Loosen all the adjuster as much as possible






    Keep everything in the order it came out, very important. Ideally you want new rockers with the new cams, very pricey I elected to polish the cam follower faces to give it a new face for the new cam to touch,






    Now the cams can slide out when the rear access cover is removed.




    Remember to pull the distributor drive up a little. the engine was set at TDC beforehand so the distributor should go right back in but will need to verified after the new ones are in.




    New versus old, not much different but they are.





    Old cams out, new ones just slide back in with assembly lube. Rockers go back in reverse of disassembly and then repeat on the other bank.







    Now getting the new ones lined up correctly is not trivial now that my heads have been decked slightly and these are custom ground cams, They need to be dialed in like I have documented before with a large degree wheel and a dial indicator. If installed like the Factory manual indicated, one cam was off 6 degrees, the other was 4 degrees. Both cams retarded to the correct setting which robs me of high RPM power. Pictures would explain this much better but I did not photograph this as a How to.

    The short of it it was that I would need to drill new holes in the cam gears to set the cams at the correct position in relation to the crank.


    I set the crank in the position I wanted for cylinder #1's intake cam lobe to open the valve 0.050".
    Removed the cam sprocket and pressed out the pin that locks it to the cam.
    I re installed the cam gear a bunch of teeth off off from its original position and installed the chain with tensioner, now without the locating pin I could rotate the cam independently of the chain drive.
    I rotated the cam to the correct position I needed as indicated with the dial indicator to get 0.050" valve lift.
    Now I could mark a new position for a new pin using a sharp pick in the groove that holds the cam sprocket pin.
    Removed the cam gear again and using the stock reinforcing washer as a centering guide over the marks I made, I center punched the location for the new hole.
    Drilled a pilot holes and undersized hole for the pin with a drill press. Chamfered the hole smooth, very important the pin is a tight fit as you dont want that falling out. Tack welding the pin to gear after confirming is a good idea.
    Pressed the pin in the new hole and with reinforcement washer.
    Reassembled and confirmed the cams were now matching the cam card.
    Repeat on the 4-6 bank.



    New hole drilled in the cam gear:



    Now I didnt get the first hole spot on, it was still 2 degrees off. So I repeated with the cam gear rotated a few more teeth. There is enough room to do this about 6 or 7 times before you would need a new gear or weld up the old holes. Here it is installed.
    Now obviously the Factory cam gear mark is no longer valid but finally the cams are in correct time again. What a relief, i should have don that years ago with the first set of cams





    Reassembled and ready to run properly now


  5. #395
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2015

    Location:  Tacoma, Wa

    Posts:    2,208

    My VIN:    4877

    Club(s):   (PNDC)

    Looks good...waay beyond my skillset to undertake something like that.
    Rob Depew
    Tacoma, Wa
    '81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
    The Ressurection of 4877......
    Website
    YouTube
    My Patreon

  6. #396
    Senior Member nkemp's Avatar
    Join Date:  Jun 2011

    Location:  Buffalo MN

    Posts:    751

    My VIN:    897 5 spd,

    Nice work. When I do a "a good clean" it usually means a sponge and soapy water.
    Nick
    - No matter how many people believe in a dumb idea ... it is still a dumb idea!
    - Some cars look fast. Some cars look faster than time!
    - The question is not "where did the time go" but rather "where to go in time".

  7. #397
    My friends think I'm nuts jawn101's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Sacramento-ish

    Posts:    4,408

    My VIN:    02100

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    Looking great as always, man!
    Jon
    1981 DMC-12 #02100. July 1981. 5-speed, black, grooved w/flap.
    restoration log, March 2011 to present
    full and detailed photo restoration log

  8. #398
    Senior Member vwdmc16's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  sacramento

    Posts:    1,415

    My VIN:    1768

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    One more item I upgraded while the engine was out was a oil pan baffle, ive noticed loss of oil pressure on really hard turns. This 1/8" thick aluminum plate I TIG welded into the pan should help keep the oil from sloshing up the side wall of the crankcase. upon assembly I found the dipstick needed a hole to reach the bottom of the pan so another small hole was made on the driverside to allow that. After some testing since installing this ive determined the baffle helped but does not completely solve the oil starvation issue.




    While the engine was out I sent my window switches off to Dave Mackeen to have the illumination LEDs repaired, they both burned out the LED on a few months after I installed them initially, very odd; but nice to have them back.






    To help with improving how the car runs when cold I upgraded the oxygen sensor to a 3 wire set up so It can heat up much more quickly. I made a new connection with a three pin Deutch plug to power it off the Idle ECU power source behind the driver seat. the sensor is a Bosch unit from a 90's buick, the ones with a 3.8 v6. One signal, one power and the third is ground. I used metal P clamps and 5mm Rivnuts to secure the wire away from the suspension. I noticed an improvement in how quickly the Lamda system comes awake and stays awake which had been an occasional issue with the DMCH headers.












    The car was running nicely so I decided to take it for a solo trip over the mountain to Nevada to visit family, Stopped for a photo on this nice vista overlooking Donner lake.





    Also had time to see my old favorite, the Gold car at Harrah's Auto Museum. My car worked great the whole trip!






  9. #399
    Senior Member vwdmc16's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  sacramento

    Posts:    1,415

    My VIN:    1768

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    Hi everyone, feels like another year has gone by, just 5 months, anyways not that many big things with the car. Ive been working on a few local cars that need more work than my car, and they help pay for my silly projects.


    New fuel hoses, cv boots and seals for Maor:






    New exhaust and A/C for this lovely painted car. I worked on this car a number of years ago when the previous owner had it, sadly he has passed but now his son in law owns and enjoys it, plenty of upgrades coming.

    New DMC CA California legal exhaust!












    I replaced my noisy cheap no name power antenna with a lovely West German Hirshmann unit from a '89 BMW. Made a custom bracket as the ones ive seen for sale look a bit flimsy. 14ga steel and powder coated, installed with fresh rivnuts and fully adjustable.









    All the tools needed to install.

    Still need to wire it up, its electronics are self contained so no separate relay in the ECU box, but it does work very smoothly with a new mast, extremely quiet and tall.






    Replaced the seals and pistons on the LF caliper as it was starting to leak, old corrosion. Works a treat now, still planning to go 4 wheel Stoptech but more pressing matters are at hand so im fine with good working stock clampers






    Bought a NOS luggage rack, havent put it on yet, while it was "new" there was large rust spot bubbling through the paint on the center tubes. So maybe after that gets re powder coated. Still its a nice bit of kit.









    Picked up a empty PRV to use as a mock up to build a new intake manifold, I want o do some dyno testing versus stock.




  10. #400
    Senior Member Domi's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  France

    Posts:    2,457

    My VIN:    16951

    Club(s):   (DCO) (DOA) (DCUK)

    The photo you've posted on Donner lake is just amazing!
    Really good job done on the car, as always.

    The white DMC also look really nice, is the owner a member here?

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