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Thread: The Restoration of #1768

  1. #341
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2015

    Location:  Tacoma, Wa

    Posts:    2,208

    My VIN:    4877

    Club(s):   (PNDC)

    Lol..would have to be a house call, since mine's pretty much immobile for a while.
    Rob Depew
    Tacoma, Wa
    '81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
    The Ressurection of 4877......
    Website
    YouTube
    My Patreon

  2. #342
    Senior Member vwdmc16's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  sacramento

    Posts:    1,415

    My VIN:    1768

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    It's a new year, time for a new update. Progress is again slow but things are happening. it also seems that again this year wont be fully focused on the Delorean... more unfortunate events have occurred. My other main car project got a powerful set back.


    One early January damp morning on the way to the shop for some more upgrades A Ford van pulled out of a parking lot into my path and I had no time to stop before we collided at about 40mph. My mighty V8 Volvo Fyord was totaled, I walked away with whiplash but the car is too far gone.














    So that was a huge and painful upset however the planets aligned and the Swedish viking gods looks fondly on me as an identical '75 Volvo 242 popped on craigslist just then in the next town over. For $1500 i could have another identical donor shell to rebuild my car, Some how this seemed reasonable so I bought it and have begun the V8 swap. this car will require more cosmetic work than the first car, but it was actually a straighter shell. So I present project Fyord 2.0! This car was made a month later, and is 1230 Vin #s off of my crashed one and mostly the same condition that I started off with all those years ago. Atleast this time I have a donor car and I know what Im doing.....














    So this may take up most of the first half of this year's spare time, I also bought a new daily Driver: a clean 2001 330Ci, I doubt I can leave that alone either





    Meanwhile I have done some more work on the Craigslist panels, My first attempt at filling the antennae hole, Im probably going to drill it out and try again with some thinner diameter Stainless filler rod, I was having trouble getting enough heat to melt the rod while not destroying the base metal, its all just practice and getting the right set up.











    First Job of the year on my car was to remove the Pedal box for new bushings, paint, and to replace the broken pedal return springs, plus I start another neat upgrade to the steering column. stay tuned!



    Last edited by vwdmc16; 04-02-2017 at 06:21 PM.

  3. #343
    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)

    Still hurts to see those pictures of the Fjord... but I'm glad the new one is coming along well.

    And now you've got me interested.... what's your plan for the steering column??
    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

  4. #344
    Senior Member vwdmc16's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  sacramento

    Posts:    1,415

    My VIN:    1768

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    Time for another update. Back in January I pulled out the entire pedal assembly to rebuild it, new bushings, replacement springs for the broken one and a good cleaning. Also reset the firewall steering bushing in the correct direction and tightened up the play in the steering column shaft where is collapses. What a huge chore that turned into, but it was worth it, The pedals feel much tighter and responsive and now I have just about zero steering play.





    Another quick Project I did was whip up a "front strut" brace. Now ive been very weary of the benefits of such things on these cars, for one there are no struts like McPherson suspension cars that could use the reinforcement. Two, there is a decent crossmember right in front of the fuel tank and directly below this brace, Three, the length that this brace has to go up to fit in the trunk creates alot of leverage arm length that works to weaken its design and negating the purpose of it to enforce the transverse loads in the chassis.

    But I had some spare time one night, some 1.25" tubing and thought why not test it. This is what I cam up with, I made it simple as possible, short and straight too in order to maximize its stregth.









    My impressions: Like everyone that has installed one of these, I also lack some hard scientific way of measuring any increase in torsional strength gained by this, I would need some million dollar frame torsional strength rig that OEM companies may use. That would be a very interesting test to see just how weak our cars are compared to a modern car. So really it comes down to human judgement. I will note that the front of my car no longer creaks as I enter my driveway at an angle without this braces, and there does seem to be a hint of increased stiffness in the front end's mannerisms.

    Does it do anything? It has decreased some front end noise for sure.

    Is it worth it? Borderline yes with the increased difficulty to remove the spare tire and get to the Brake Master.

    Conclusion: I want to do more testing with it on vs off. Also build another version that has a freely collapsing center section that I can use to measure compression and expansion amounts during regular and heavy cornering. (This may be a while as its low on priority in my life currently)

  5. #345
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2015

    Location:  Tacoma, Wa

    Posts:    2,208

    My VIN:    4877

    Club(s):   (PNDC)

    Nice work.

    I saw a brace up at DMCNW that is curved and looks like it goes around the spare and that..but didnt ask about it, as I have enough I still need to do on mine before that kinda thing.
    Rob Depew
    Tacoma, Wa
    '81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
    The Ressurection of 4877......
    Website
    YouTube
    My Patreon

  6. #346
    Senior Member vwdmc16's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  sacramento

    Posts:    1,415

    My VIN:    1768

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    Bam second update, Im spoiling you guys.

    This is the beginning of my Cruise control retrofit. As some of you know i work at a BMW shop and have kinda become a bmw guy too. I was really impressed with how well the BMW E30 cruise control set up works for a 30 year old system. I also like the way the handle looked and felt, very high quality. The entire cruise system is actually self contained, fully electric, compact and I thought it wouldn't be a terrible project to retrofit into my Delorean plus it almost looks OEM doesnt it? I wouldnt stand to put a modern or vintage aftermarket cruise system in as they look very tacky. So here it goes:

    Complete E30 cruise system: stalk, actuator, wiring, control unit, just needs power, ground, brake/clutch switch and a speed signal.


    First off i want to make sure I could mount the control stalk onto the Delorean column, so I went to the local junk yard and got all the parts I needed from a '90 BMW 325i. I found it would fit nicely under the wiper stalk with a simple tab.




    Template for stainless tab I welded on the DMC column






    Tig welded on






    Now there are two arm lengths made for the BMWs, Air bag and non air bag. Neither style matched the Delorean style so I would have to cut up, shorten and re design the arm which is just a 6mm thick solid steel rod. So more cutting and welding






    1" section removed and the rod all sanded smooth




    looked to be a good shape now





    Now to make it look bettter, I tried some heat shrink




    However it did not come out nicely so simply black paint would be the end method




    Now to make the column cover work, preferably with minimal cutting




    And assembled, fits in very nice and tigthly






    Now to test leg room, im 6'4" so this is important, while it does work and I was happy with it at first, ive decided to go back and change the angle again to raise it up about an inch, this would mean the two arms will hit if you engage the wiper demist and raise cruise stalk at the same time but that isnt really a real world problem that should happen.



    Currently this is all I have installed now, the control unit and switches should be pretty simple to mount under the dash, the actuator will need to be put in the rear pontoons and possibly a custom cable made to go to the throttle spool. I entertained the idea of putting the actuator under the dash too and having it pull on the gas pedal, this would negate the need to extend the 7 wire harness all the way to the rear of the car but I have doubts the actuator is strong enough to pull the DMC throttle cable from up front as its much heavier than the BMW throttle. That could cause issues. As for the speed signal, I intend on replacing the Lambda box with an inline VSS box like the DMCEU power steering kit uses.

  7. #347
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2015

    Location:  Tacoma, Wa

    Posts:    2,208

    My VIN:    4877

    Club(s):   (PNDC)

    Very clever work there. Definately something I would never think about doing, since I have zero fab skills in that area...lol
    Rob Depew
    Tacoma, Wa
    '81 DeLorean 4877 Grey, Auto, 4 wheels
    The Ressurection of 4877......
    Website
    YouTube
    My Patreon

  8. #348
    Senior Member vwdmc16's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  sacramento

    Posts:    1,415

    My VIN:    1768

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    I have been posting about my front brake modifications in the MX5 vented front brake thread but ill also post here for posterity.

    The idea is to have vented front brakes that are:

    1. less prone to fade as stock
    2. Reasonably priced to convert
    3. Easy to service/rebuild
    4. Low cost parts and Readily available most places in the world.
    5. Greater selection of brake pad compounds
    6. 100% bolt on and reversible



    Josh S in Canada is the real worker in making this possible, he CAD'd up these brackets and had them laser cut, they fit really well and with a few more parts it was ready to test. The basic but key parts:




    One OEM part can be reused with simple machining unless we created a scratch replacement:





    Spindle spacer is cut down a bit to allow room for the larger and improved wheel hub, 2000 Ford Escort rear hub. Replacement spacers are availble and cheap from DMCH.





    Some good used calipers were sourced, cleaned up and rebuilt with the easy to get and very low cost rebuild kits, new and Reman calipers are still available too and much cheaper than stock DMC calipers:




    Caliper, bracket and new hub installed, With some trimming the factory dust shield can also be installed but I opted not to during this testing phase:





    Fully assembled and plumbed with a easy to get universal 18" stainless -4 AN brake hose





    Plenty of room inside the stock 14" wheels


  9. #349
    Senior Member vwdmc16's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  sacramento

    Posts:    1,415

    My VIN:    1768

    Club(s):   (NCDMC) (DCUK)

    Also here is a quick angle drive dust cap I made to allow the brake conversion to still work the speedo, A nice 3D printed one would be more slick.









    Now with the ability to easily attach other brake options on my car I jumped at the chance to try out this really nice aftermarket brake kit from Stoptech. This is their just released big brake kit made for 1990-2001 Miata and designed to fit under most 15" wheels or larger. I got a great deal on this kit as a local Miata shop I work with is a dealer for them now. Since it is bolt on for Miatas, its bolt on for me too!






    A few comparisons:

    Stock DMC to ST ( you can see Ive been getting my stock brakes hot)








    mx5 1.8 stock vs ST vs DMC stock







    The big draw back (for some people) is the ST kit wont fit in the 14" delorean wheel.






    Plenty of room in a Delorean rear 15" wheel, which means I kinda want to go bigger already!









    With Josh S' adaptor kit they literally bolted right on, could even use the same universal brake hose although another 2" would be nice.









    So now I need another set of 15" wheels to get on the road with, wrong color but I was going to re coat all my rims anyways.






    A pair of 205/50R15s are very close to the stock 14" tire size in height so the speedometer stays very accurate ( 2mph fast when compared to a phone based GPS!) but having that extra 10mm of rubber up front on sticker and better tires really does improve the cars stability.






    Quick preview of what it will look like after some expensive re coating.


  10. #350
    Senior Member DMC5180's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Reedsburg, WI

    Posts:    4,026

    My VIN:    5180

    Club(s):   (DMWC) (DCUK)

    How much further does the wheel / tire stick out of the wheel opening? How close is the tire to contacting the front of the wheel opening when the tires are turned inward with a load in the trunk? How close is the possible contact with the ARB at full steering stop.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    DENNIS

    VIN 5180, Frame 3652, STAGE II​, DM-eng Solid State Solutions (RPM Rly, Dm.Lt.Mod., Fan Fail Mod. , FAN Rly, HS.Rly) , HID headlights, SPAX user since 2009, Eibach springs, M Adj. Rear LCA's, DPNW poly-sway bar kit, DMCEU LCA Stabilizer link kit, DMCMW Illuminated door sills, Aussie Illuminated SS Shifter plate, REAL MOMO EVO Steering wheel, DELOREANA Extended View Side Mirrors w/ Heaters, DELOREANA LED Door Lights.

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