#5096 restoration

[Patrick C]

GREAT job!

[Lightning]

5096 is now in Eddy's shop along with Sherry's and Jeremiah's Turbo VR6.

[SEO Motorsports]

I finally got started on Sam's car and have the fuel system torn down. I was able to get the fuel distributor modified, cleaned and put back together. I also got the plenum cleaned and ready to be reassembled. because Sam has no intentions of ever going back to stock I am going to rewire the engine bay and get rid of all the extra cables that are not needed. Turbocharger, fuel injectors and other parts are already here, I should get the ECU this weekend. The plan is to get the EFI system installed and ready, then move on to pulling the exhaust system down for new gaskets and start building the turbo kit. I will be out of town this week on a business trip so work will not resume until next Saturday.

[Beachdrifter]

Hi Samuel, cool history on your car, thanks for sharing. I admire you for saving a car in such conditions and taking on a challenge like that. I know it can be frustrating and patience is a must with these cars. But sounds like you have been already after many years. I'm sure you are excited to finally get a great running car.

Looking forward to seeing the progress.

One thing you mentioned is changing door handles. Was that hard to do? I've always just opened my doors with two hands to reduce any strain on the handes as I have always had a fear that they would snap for some reason,

I will be taking my car to Eddie hopefully soon after he has some space open to get Sherry's kit as well.

Randy

[ALEXAKOS]

I am so happy to see another doomed D get hope from a nut like your self.
I am not alone!!

[Lightning]

One thing you mentioned is changing door handles. Was that hard to do? I've always just opened my doors with two hands to reduce any strain on the handes as I have always had a fear that they would snap for some reason,

Mine actually snapped while only under the tension of the wire to undo the latch, it was not a lot of tension. Replacement was easy, there are two nuts on the inside of the door that you undo then pull the handle out from the outside (might be stuck so wiggle) and undo the wire that is attached. Having an extra long THIN extension bar for the ratchet wrench helps. I had a long extension bar but it was too thick to get over the bend on the inside of the door. I could have also used the swivel piece that lets you get to odd angles which would have helped on one of the nuts but that is not in my set currently.

[DeLorean03]

One quick suggestion: have some tape in your socket, so when you put the hexnuts back on that hold the door handle in place, they don't fall out of your socket and into the door.

Not to steal Samuel's thunder - he did a great job describing it. Take your upper interior door panel off by use of a door trim puller. I used the middle piece in this set here. Thankfully I had a coupon, so they weren't too expensive...

http://www.harborfreight.com/5-piece...set-99739.html

When you pull the trim piece off, feel alongside the top edge of the trim close to the window. As you feel alongside it, you'll be able to feel the round tops of the fir-trees. Once you locate them, use the trim tool, and gently pry the fir-trees up and out, dislodging the trim piece. Once you get a couple loose, you can gently - gently - pull the rest of the trim piece off by hand - gently....

Once you do this, a headlamp is very helpful. Look towards the inside area of the door where the exterior handle is located. You'll see two hexnuts. They are 10mm (I'm 95% sure). PUT TAPE in your socket, and gently unscrew the hexnuts up and out. At this point, you should be able to go to the exterior portion of the door and gently wiggle the handles out of the door. They will still be connected by a wire with a metal ball on the end. Take note of how it does into the door handle, and then disconnect it. Reassemble from here, and enjoy your new door handle!

Use a soft rubber mallet to put the fir-trees back into the interior portion of the door and secure the interior trim trim back into place. It has worked great for me!

It seems imitating at first, but after you do it, it's ridiculously straight-forward! If I can do it, we all can have hope .

[Lightning]

Or just do as I did and open the door so that the nuts are going up instead of down and avoid the tape

[Beachdrifter]

This is great information. Thank you both!

--Randy

[SEO Motorsports]

Little update on this project. The ECU is here and ready to be installed. The plan is to totally rewire the engine bay to get rid of all the stuff Sam does not want. I'm also going to reroute the main power cable to the alternator so they do more direct and not over the intake manifold. I got the modified fuel injectors installed and I pick up the injector adapters today. I should have the top end buttoned up by this weekend and then I move on to the exhaust and turbo kit afterwards.