The Restoration of #1768

[jawn101]

Treated my self and the car to something nice



First time the car has had completely new front shocks in 32 years, Below are the shocks Ive run before. Right to left: Stock Girling (off a 18kmile car), DMCH Eibach (used with 30k miles and one ended up being blown so ive never actually used these more the a trip around the block so Still need to find a place to rebuild them), New Koni Adjustables, Mazda Miata rear Bilstein HDs with a few seasons of racing on them.




These Konis are modifed Pontiac Fiero front shocks (Koni #8040 1092). The lower bushing was pressed out and a urethane bushing with a 1/2" ID sleeve was installed, they are adjustable by compressing the shaft fully and rotating it within a 720' window, I started out in the middle adjustment and they are a noticeable improvement over the Girlings and the (worn) Billys. There is a slight amount of residual bouncing if you bounce the car up and down on one corner so Im going to set them a bit stiffer but while driving they feel devine

I would like to get another pair of new Bilsteins and do the same bushing treatment and compare them back to back with the konis since my experience with the Bills are not fair since they were used cast offs I got in a trade years back.


Installed easy just like a stock shocks ad you can see they are barely smaller.

Those look great! So they really feel obviously different?

[Chris Burns]

That's the first time I have heard of a Eibach shock going bad.

[vwdmc16]

Oh yeah, shocks can fail, the bad one I have has a leak and has lost some oil and all gas pressure.


@ Jon, Yes it has much more refined feel over speed bumps and bad pavement. They have a tighter feel and the front doesnt dive as much under hard braking, Its still no new BMW but it never will be with the suspension design flaws we have.

[Josh]

Thanks for the comparison, very interesting!

[Domi]

Do you think these Koni are better than the Spax (plug&play) design for the DeLorean?
On the other hand, I have some Koni's shock on my everyday car and they have more than 240000kms on them

[vwdmc16]

Im afraid i cant speak for the Spax as i have no experience with them but i have only heard good things

[vwdmc16]

It's been a while since any large projects on the Delorean. The car has been behaving quite well. Just about to hit 60k miles I bought some new wiring supplies for a long term project: replacing all the factory multi-pin connectors with some modern quality weatherproof Deutsch connectors. Also dressing up the wiring with some braided Nylon loom. First Ill do a few small sections, Like the rear fascia wiring harness. First have to de-pin the connector to fit the loom and heat shrink over. Used this tool to pull the pins out.




Here is some of the loom, it can stretch and shrink easily.




After some 3/4" heat shrink is applied, It secures the loom on tight.




I cleaned up the connectors with this sanding pen, It uses glass fibers to clean the metal.




Also dressed up the A/C clutch power wire and the cold start temp sender wire.





Here is one of the new 9 pin connectors I will try out, first one to change is the connector for the front fascia wiring which has become rather dirty over the years.

[jawn101]

It's been a while since any large projects on the Delorean. I bought some new wiring supplies for a long term project: replacing all the factory multi-pin connectors with some modern quality weatherproof Deutsch connectors. Also dressing up the wiring with some braided Nylon loom. First Ill do a few small sections, Like the rear fascia wiring harness. First have to de-pin the connector to fit the loom and heat shrink over. Used this tool to pull the pins out.




Here is some of the loom, it can stretch and shrink easily.




After some 3/4" heat shrink is applied, It secures the loom on tight.




I cleaned up the connectors with this sanding pen, It uses glass fibers to clean the metal.




Also dressed up the A/C clutch power wire and the cold start temp sender wire.





Here is one of the new 9 pin connectors I will try out, first one to change is the connector for the front fascia wiring which has become rather dirty over the years.

Awesome! I really like how that loom ends up looking in there, especially over some of those bundles that get really crunchy over time. I'd do the wires to the starter/oil pressure sender too - do you think that wrap can take the heat right there?

[vwdmc16]

Yes I will try to do all the visible wires eventually. The stuff can handle -94' to 257' it melts at 482'. I would like to cut down on the excess wires on the starter/alternator harness too.

[DavidProehl]

Very clean looking! That des simplify and modernize the look while providing extra protection.