3.0L engine swap

[Farrar]

Thanks for that info, Rodolfo! I did not know about that website or their products until now.

[Farrar]

#2613's angle drive has now failed. Although there's an easy way to get the necessary 16 pulse-per-revolution signal for an electric speedometer (also used for cruise control which I tried to install and plan to get working some day), we DeLorean owners are still stuck with mechanically-driven speedometers, and I've been out of the loop for so long that I don't know if any consensus was ever reached as to the best replacement options available for the original angle drive.

[Josh]

#2613's angle drive has now failed. Although there's an easy way to get the necessary 16 pulse-per-revolution signal for an electric speedometer (also used for cruise control which I tried to install and plan to get working some day), we DeLorean owners are still stuck with mechanically-driven speedometers, and I've been out of the loop for so long that I don't know if any consensus was ever reached as to the best replacement options available for the original angle drive.

Retrofit the guts from an electronic speedometer behind the delorean guage face.
Something like this: https://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=199.0

Or much less intrusive, but more expensive would be a speedometer driver. Can run off of GPS...
http://www.speedhut.com/Speedbox.html

[Farrar]

Thanks, Josh, for that information!

Since #2613's temperature gauge has also failed, I will eventually have to pull the cluster out and repair/replace some stuff there. That might be a good time to investigate electronic speedo options. Much as I would like adore a fully-backlit install using a Dakota Digital kit like another user here on DMCTalk has done, I won't be able to - partly because the cost would be $1,000+ and partly because that user seems to have disappeared before fulfilling his promise to share his graphics template.

In the short term, a replacement angle drive from the UK is $60. In the long term, retrofitting the guts of an electronic gauge seems like a good way to go. If/when that happens, it may be lucky for me that #2613's previous owner outfitted the cluster with a 140 MPH gauge: I believe most speedometers these days are 120 MPH or greater, so finding an electronic gauge compatible with the layout of the installed gauge face is more likely as opposed to the original 85 MPH one.

And then I suppose the difficult part would then be figuring out what to do about the mechanical odometers: I like the look of them but if they can't be adapted they'll have to be replaced...

I have a lot of studying to do.

[Josh]

I would be more concerned with the guage sweep more than anything. The pulse generator connected to the hub can be changed to fit with the guage and tire size.

Let me know how i can help, I want to do the same thing with my car but it is very low on priority list as I have a obd2 driven gauge readout on my stereo.

[Farrar]

I want to do the same thing with my car but it is very low on priority list

It just got bumped down on my priority list, too. Bill has informed me that the angle drive's internals are fine and all I needed was a new spindle cable.

However, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it happens again and I feel like ditching the mechanical drive entirely. It may end up being one of my winter projects within the new few years. When I do it, I'll be sure to post as much info on DMCTalk as I can.

[DMC5180]

If the spindle cable fails, it’s typically caused by the angle drive gears wearing out and occasionally locking up. This assumes the rest system upstream is well lubricated relatively friction free.

[Farrar]

If the spindle cable fails, it’s typically caused by the angle drive gears wearing out and occasionally locking up.

I suppose #2613 is atypical. The gears and bushings seem to be in very good shape.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[dn010]

The cable on mine failed too, twice. It was not because of the internals, I have no idea why they failed.

However, I did find a long, T-handle hex wrench that fit nicely into the angle drive to turn it - so I cut the handle off at the proper distance so it could engage the drive as well as the dust cap. I hammered the cap side of the hex wrench flat, installed the angle drive, installed the hex side of the wrench in the drive, put the cap on the end, hammered that down over it and it has worked flawlessly for 12 years. No more broken cables, no more bouncing speedometer, and no more "stripped" dust caps!

I don't get why they used a cable right there in the first place - it doesn't flex; it seems needless to me.

[Farrar]

The cable on mine failed too, twice. It was not because of the internals, I have no idea why they failed.

Bill has a theory that the cables unwind because they are spun in the opposite direction that they are wound. He has had to replace a couple of cables on his car due to "spaghettification" of the spindle cables.

Note: on Bill's car, he has eliminated the Lambda box and runs a single piece of cable from the back of the speedometer to the angle drive. As I understand it, he considered the Lambda box to be putting unnecessary resistance against the cable's motion. I may have misunderstood, so don't take this as gospel. My car still uses the Lambda box -- but I have never heard any noise coming from it, and Bill has not mentioned that there were any other problems, so I presume everything inside the Lambda box is still turning just fine.

#2613's angle drive is not original. It seems to be of the type that Houston was selling in the mid-2000s. The housing has a grease fitting, and the caps are held on with dimples so that they can be removed and the unit taken apart, cleaned, and if needed rebuilt. The brass bushings are in fantastic shape, and so are the gears.

The spindle cable that broke was not 100% metal like a wire rope: it was made of fine steel wound around a plastic rod. This seems to be common. Continuing with the tradition of #2613 being a test vehicle for modifications, Bill will modify the angle drive to accept replaceable spindle cables and make one out of 100% brass. We will see how long the unit lasts. Houston's angle drives are affordable enough, but there's always room for experimentation.