new guy with a few silly questions

[movieman1026]

Hi all,
I'm looking for a Delorean to be my next vehicle, and given its notorious lack of performance I'm trying to figure out what the best options are for my future car. Its my hope / goal to make it a car I'll be driving and, if need be, rebuilding for 10+ years to come, so I want a feel for what can be done now to bring a D up to more modern performance specs.

Does anyone here have experience with the stage III DMC upgrade motor? Anyone running that with an automatic? (I suck on a clutch, will prolly be driving her in SF and LA traffic alot) by the numbers it looks like power wise that would fall in line with my pals 2010 bmw 328i.

Are transmission swaps possible/feasible with the DMC's frame? in an ideal world I'd throw a paddle shifted DSG in the car, but from the photos and diagrams I've seen of the undercarriage, it seems like theres a high probability to need to cut on the frame.

has anyone had any luck with motor swaps to get closer to 300bhp? any beyond? any luck in terms of maintenance on any motor swaps? If I commit to a motor swap, I want to make sure I havent condemned myself to a world of hurt in terms of maintenance and support.

Thanks all, and I look forward to getting to know some of you here on the forum!
-rob

[sdg3205]

Hey rob.

Welcome! There is a TON of information on engine swaps around here. There are few in progress right now including a VR6. A search will also show you a twin turbo PRV project.

Run some searches. You'll find all your answers. Yes, automatic and manual frames are slightly different and would require some mods.

There have been a bunch of engine swaps. Ill bet nearly half no longer run properly if at all like the grand national, rotary and North Star swap.

If you want a fast performance car by 2014 standards the Delorean is not for you. If you want an awesome car by any standard, then start watching for the right Delorean. We don't drive fast, we drive awesome.

[DeLorean03]

Hey Rob,

You'll want to talk to Eddie Ghesquiere and Nick Roedl - both of them are here at DMCTalk.

Eddie goes by 82dmc-12; Nick goes by Nicholas R.

Nick is well known here for having successfully installed a LS1 motor into the DMC's engine bay and mating it to the DMC's stock 5-speed trans.

Eddie is known as the community's turbo expert, and that goes far beyond his knowledge with the DMC. He is known for successfully installing a Toyota Supra 2JZ engine into his old DeLorean, and mating that engine with the stock 5-speed trans. He is also the man responsible for the aforementioned ongoing VR6 swap, which is currently being done to my DeLorean at this thread: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?78...o-VR6-DeLorean

There a number of other unique engine swaps such as the Northstar engine, multiple 4.3L Chevy Vortec engines, a small block 350, a VQ35 engine, and still others.

Respectfully, I would say Eddie and Nick are the ones that are the most active here on the the forums.

Hope that helps!

[movieman1026]

Thanks for the reply! I'm definitely watching the VR6 thread, its what got me to join the forum actually.

perhaps I should rephrase, I'm not necessarily looking for a "performance" car, just something thats a more peppy than my prius (which the stock dmc's at wheel HP is nearly equal to), nice enough that I can pick up clients in, and peppy enough to zip around mind numbing traffic if need be. So improved performance, not a Ferrari in DMC clothing (yet... the potential of the DMC EV does intrigue me though).

And I'm totally down with the driving awesome. my current hobby/hauling truck is a rebuild military humvee that I take great pleasure in cruising down telegraph ave in Berkeley when coming back from work lol. That ol girl also aint too fast, 0-60 in maybe 20 seconds?

I'll definitely look around more though.

thank you sir!

Also, if anybody has any experience with the stage III motor and why they did/didnt opt for it that would be fantastic!

[mluder]

We don't drive fast, we drive awesome.

+1

Cheers
Steve

[Lou and "Boo"]

We don't drive fast, we drive awesome.

I drive fast AND awesome, thank you very much!

[Nicholas R]

I drive fast AND awesome, thank you very much!

I just drive fast

Anything can be done, the hardest part is deciding what to do and how committed you actually are (time wise, effort wide, and monetarily).

[Rich W]

There have been a bunch of engine swaps. Ill bet nearly half no longer run properly if at all like the grand national, rotary and North Star swap.

Not sure about the Rotary (3-rotor) and the NorthStar, but there are at least a few Grand National swaps (Buick 3.8L Turbo V6) including mine.
I believe there are two or three "single turbo" (like the Grand National) and at least one "twin turbo" (never offered as a twin turbo in the GN).

Like any DeLorean, these engine swap cars need to be driven and maintained to be reliable, but many of these engine swap cars are just "toys"
that are not driven as much as they should be or could be driven (I admit I am guilty of not driving my Grand National powered car enough too).

My personal recommendation would be to test drive a Stage II with an automatic. A friend of mine has been running this setup since May 2012
and he has been very happy with the results, especially when stuck in traffic, and he is used to daily driving a few Mercedes with 250-350 HP.

I have driven this DeLorean, before and after the swap, and it certainly did "wake up" the performance, while keeping it fairly stock appearing.

[DeLorean03]

I dont understand how someone gets an engine swap done (expen$ive), and then it's just a toy. When I get mine back - dude - you can bet I am going to drive that car and enjoy it like the 1st day I got my DeLorean.

[Lightning]

Delorean03: I agree, mine is part of my effort to have a daily driver that I want to drive and at the same time pick up and move when I want it to.