VIN 11408, getting it back on the road!

[Josh]

Well here is my build of my 1982 Delorean, just acquired two days ago. Now starts the long process of getting it back on the road.

VIN


Imported the car into Canada Friday night


There was a large car meet the next day (350 cars came out) so I decided to make an appearance.




After the show We dropped off the car to my garage where the major surgery will take place. It is 11X22ft sp it is small but once I get the motorcycle out for the season I feel space will be adequate.



Interior is pretty decent, but still needs alot of work. Will be tackling mechanical issues first.



Trunk:


Engine has not run since 2005 I was told by the PO. Parked due to an oil leak on the rear main seal. The transmission feels extremely stiff as well, dropping it will be the first major job.


Looks like it still has some oil in it haha. Have to figure out where this is coming from.


Frame shots. Looks to be in very good shape. The front had surface rust removed and por-15 applied by the PO




Now the mystery of a painted car. It was believed that this car was dealer painted, but it could not be confirmed. There was bondo on some areas indicating repairs. I bought the car knowing this risk and with the intent to remove the paint. So I started chipping away at cracking spots on the Rear quarter and Drivers door. The rear quarter looks to be garbage, will need to hunt one down.




So that's a brief overview of the car in my first couple days of ownership. Next weekend It will be up on stands getting the brakes removed to determine if they can be rebuilt, the transaxle removed, and taking a good look at the fuel system. Might start removing the exterior panels as well to be media blasted.

[Kenny_Z]

With the damage in that area I'd worry the door was also damaged. Take the headliner off that door and see if you can see any dents. The only way I can see that panel being the only one damaged is if someone had the panel off and dropped it. Or they punched it but that would really hurt.

What type of media are you going to get it blasted with? I can verify that chemical stripping is a lot cheaper but a lot more work. Chemical stripping also has the benefit of preserving the grain if it exists under the paint.

Congrats on the purchase.

[Josh]

Thanks for the reply. I have read your thread from start to finish I am aware of the method you used! Air craft stripper is a little hard to come by up here though unfortunately. I have narrowed it down to Either Peel Away 1 or media blasting with walnut at a low psi. Not sure if the media blasting would remove the grain (leaning towards yes) but it would be easier than chemical removal and it is very comparable in price (about 70$ an hour).

The bondo on the door has me wondering about the condition of the other panels. And unlike the other panels the door cannot be repaired (no access from behind in some spots). I do have a spare passenger side door though and the hood and right front and rear fenders appear to be in good shape. Just looks like the right side of the car had some work done to it...

But the mechanical portion of the car will be tackled first. Just removed the bondo as it was cracked and I was curious what was underneath!

[jawn101]

Looks like a good project!

What's with the holes in the quarter though. I can't quite figure those out. Maybe they were to try some kind of dent removal from the inside before painting over them?

[vwdmc16]

Ninja 250! I have an '06 myself!


Nice project, looks like it will be taking alot of work. but with the paint gone that will be rewarding to see. What's the plan for the? stock resto? daily driver?

[Josh]

Ninja 250! I have an '06 myself!


Nice project, looks like it will be taking alot of work. but with the paint gone that will be rewarding to see. What's the plan for the? stock resto? daily driver?

Thanks! Its actually my friends, I have my bike out already. I have a 88 ninja 250 and his is an 03. Great bike indeed! My plan right now is to get it mechanically sound and go from there. A long term goal will always be an engine swap!

It used to be standard dent removal practice. It also helped the bondo hold the panel. On a mild steel panel it also helps moisture cause rust.

I think walnuts will take away the grain but I've heard that soda will not. However, soda won't remove bondo.

Thats kind of what I figured, dot have a whole lot of bodywork experience but I have seen a dent puller in use. I am still debating the best way to remove the paint. Maybe Peel Away one for the bulk of the paint and take the panels in for blasting the hard to reach areas. The owner of the sandblasting shop here doesn't seem to like soda blasting so that's not an option lol. I will be doing all the blasting myself as his shop is set up for DIY blasting. Kind of neat as the one cabinet has two sets of guns so you and a friend can blast simultaneously and essentially do twice as much in the time.

I want to get the car running but I want to see that stainless steel! Delorean problems I suppose, haha.

[Kenny_Z]

Looks like a good project!

What's with the holes in the quarter though. I can't quite figure those out. Maybe they were to try some kind of dent removal from the inside before painting over them?

It used to be standard dent removal practice. It also helped the bondo hold the panel. On a mild steel panel it also helps moisture cause rust.

I think walnuts will take away the grain but I've heard that soda will not. However, soda won't remove bondo.

[jawn101]

I do know that I literally cannot find any more surprises. This is slightly comforting haha.

Hope that ends up being true! As you've discovered, these cars have a way of... well, surprising you. At least yours has a good home now.

Me too exactly when I got my car 4 years ago. I really had to restrain myself from going the quick route but my bad rear frame rot made me scared to even try and drive. After that was sorted there seemed to always be something else that really needed attention.

4 years and who knows how many 1000's of hrs later Im not finding any more big surprises but the list (that I purposely haven't written down to avoid depressing myself) hasn't seemed to shrink.

But if there was ever a DeLorean success story, yours is it! She's a Phoenix if there ever was one. Hopefully 11408 will be the same way.

[Josh]

Hope that ends up being true! As you've discovered, these cars have a way of... well, surprising you. At least yours has a good home now.



But if there was ever a DeLorean success story, yours is it! She's a Phoenix if there ever was one. Hopefully 11408 will be the same way.

I suppose I havent dug that far into the interior and body wiring yet. But that is minor compared to all these mechanical issues. Well I am hoping to put together a drool-worthy chassis, stay tuned!

[Josh]

Been holding off a bit for an update as I did something many people may think is not a good idea. I cut the frame. I removed the rear frame extension in order to get the frame to fit in the burn off oven. The frame is being galvanized, so the old epoxy needed to be removed. I found a local burn off oven but its dimensions were 6x6x10. The frame is 12 feet long, and about 10.5ft after being cut. So they managed to squeeze it in and boy did it do a number on the epoxy, it just flaked all off. Cooked at 700F for 4 hours. Anyways I got the frame back and had my friend who is a very good welder stitch it back together, it turned out great. Thanks to a tip from Dave from DMCMW with the alignment plates everything is within spec just like before and with no measuring involved. I checked over the rest of the frame carefully. Filled some pin holes and replaced a bent piece in the front frame extension. Otherwise the frame is good to go to the galvanizer. The fuel tank closing plate has been attacked by brake fluid unfortunately. I will be getting an aluminum or stainless replacement lasercut once I get around to drawing it up.

The doors came off as well. I am planning on replacing both doors, so I had no choice. Inspected the roof box and it appears to be pretty bad. I plan to redo it in the future, but for now I will clean it up the best I can. I did not see any rust holes so I think it will serve me a little longer! Also, I removed both of the doors and torsion rods myself. It is possible, but not very fun. Great to have a helper to help handle the door when over extending and removing it.

I also finished the last of my sandblasting (the big stuff at least). There is a local DIY sandblasting business that has been awesome for this project.

Got my wolfhead wheel. It will be a while before I can use it. In the meantime just practicing with junk panels.

Took the fascias to get the paint removed. Found large cracks in both fascias, this can be repaired but it's another expense. The facias also contained alot of bondo.

I picked up the Zinc plated parts from the plater. I gave them greasy, rusty, disgusing parts and I got back these wonderfully shiny pieces. I was very impressed with the quality of work.

Finally, the powdercoater sent me a quick picture of some of the parts I had sent off. They look awesome, very impressed. Much more parts to come