Posts: 434
My VIN: Formerly 10570 and 6776
Club(s): (AZ-D) (DMA) (SCDC) (DCUK)
Interesting that they were already aware of some of these issues early on, some got sorted but a shame many didn't - even easy and important ones like the riveted top door seals...
Chris
Posts: 434
My VIN: Formerly 10570 and 6776
Club(s): (AZ-D) (DMA) (SCDC) (DCUK)
I think they did do a lot of the easy and important ones. Roof seals shouldn't have gone bad anytime in the first several years that the car was in use. There are lots of things in the files here for parts that got engineered in late 1981 and early-mid 1982 that just never made it to production. Some of them got to the "trial run" stage where they were fitted to anywhere from 10-50 cars to test feasibility. Things like the fixing bolts for the trailing arm shields in the battery and cubby compartment - they were engineered to be replaced with the metal strips commonly used today.
http://store.delorean.com/p-10405-de...trip-pair.aspx
Note the "U.E." on the stock disposal instructions for the Big Head Bolt SP10589 - that means "Until Exhausted" - they weren't going to switch until they had used up all the old parts.
Posts: 434
My VIN: Formerly 10570 and 6776
Club(s): (AZ-D) (DMA) (SCDC) (DCUK)
Couple of things here - there were no Kapac assembled cars. Your car was almost assuredly VIN 12106, built in Feb/Mar of 1982 by DMCL. It was later given a new VIN by Consolidated International by adding 5000 to the existing VIN. The 20XXX were the partially assembled cars on the assembly line when the line shut completely in May 1982. These were completed at the direction of Consolidated in very late 1982, reportedly by bringing back managers to complete them.
While it's possible that they were in production at the time your car was built, the absence of any "Received Inventory" in the files and no "Initial Sample Record" on hand, coupled with the fact that DMCL went into receivership shortly after this Engineering Change was approved, in my opinion make it *more* likely that your car happened to be one of the "10 off car sets" supplied for evaluation. Perhaps Nick might be able to shed some light on it from his files.
Any other 17XXX owner care to check their cars and report back?
James
Location: Middleburg Heights, OH
Posts: 1,939
Location: Atlanta OTP GA
Posts: 7,084
My VIN: 2743
Club(s): (SEDOC) (DCH) (DCUK) (DOC-UK)
Shep, the door cards are the two large pieces of interior door trim that are held on by "fir trees"
So called, I think, because the first ones used were actually made from pressed card.
Dermot
VIN 2743, B/A, Frame 2227, engine 2320
I don't always drive cars, but when I do, I prefer DeLoreans
http://www.will-to-live.org
No-one is to stone anyone, even, and I want to make this absolutely clear, even if they do say "carburetor"
Posts: 434
My VIN: Formerly 10570 and 6776
Club(s): (AZ-D) (DMA) (SCDC) (DCUK)
Location: Northern Michigan
Posts: 1,147
My VIN: 1880
Club(s): (DCO) (DCUK)
I've heard this too, but one of our Cincinnati owners who has been in this game for a long time has told me that he personally witnessed Jerry Rhine (sp?) building a DeLorean from the ground up more than once. I asked if they were half-completed cars from DMCL, and he said that no, Jerry was building up from the bare frame when he stopped in to visit. Since this owner lived in Columbus at the time, he stopped in frequently to see Jerry and eventually bought his car from him (an early '81). I may be wrong, but the number I heard was that Jerry built 5-6 cars from parts while working for KAPAC.
Last edited by Patrick C; 04-19-2013 at 12:39 PM.
Patrick C.
VIN 1880
Posts: 434
My VIN: Formerly 10570 and 6776
Club(s): (AZ-D) (DMA) (SCDC) (DCUK)
Marvin Katz (the "Ka" in Kapac) says that no cars were built as they had no way to title them since there were no MSO documents. When we bought everything in 1997 there were two partially assembled cars - one a rolling frame/underbody and one just a rolling frame. Whoever put them together didn't know what they were doing as they had installed manual transmissions in automatic frames. We corrected the rolling frame/underbody and made it driveable without doors/other panels and took it to DCS 2000 in Cleveland.