Bought a Project Car - Restoration of Vin 1800

[StainlessBullet]

Hey everyone! After going a year and a half without a DeLorean and going through DeLorean withdrawals as a result, I decided it was time to sell the Viper and get another D'.

Spent a few months searching for the "right" one for me. I knew I wanted an early car and it had to be a drivable project car. A car that I could work on, restore into "my" car and also be somewhat drivable so I could still enjoy the car on the days I just don't feel like wrenching. With the help of Darren here on the forums I found exactly what I was looking for.

Meet Vin 1800. June '81 Build, Black interior, 5-speed manual, gas flap hood, dark wheels.







Unfortunately the car has a small dent on a quarter panel



Frame is solid. Small amount of surface rust near the extension. That will be taken care of very soon!






The seats are an interesting recover. Cloth and vinyl mix. Will be getting new leather eventually.







Missing original spare and trunk panel has been cut around new fuel pump



After a quick wash job got her loaded up and headed home! Truck didn't even notice it was back there lol






My overall first impressions of the car is that it's going to need ALOT of work. The previous owner said he had a local shop do most of the work on the car. I do know whoever worked on this thing in the past had no clue what to do and just did things half-assed. There are literally screws drilled into different things on the car instead of installing the correct way. The seat backs for one. The DMC logo side sills for another. The panel in the trunk above the fuel pump was cut to make room for the DMCH pump. It looks like a class A hack job lol. Aftermarket alarm system. Wires everywhere. ETC ETC ETC
With all that being said.... this car has alot of potential and I'm super happy with the purchase. The previous owner was very fair on the price and gave me quite a few new parts and misc paperwork and manuals etc.

Looking foward to posting updates of my progress in the future! Boy does it feel good to be back! lol

[Quinn]

I installed that DMCH fuel pump in my car and have the same issue with the cover not fitting. I'll have to hack it up at some point. Maybe with my Dremel tool, I can make it look halfway decent. Good luck with the project, looks like a good starting point.

[StainlessBullet]

I installed that DMCH fuel pump in my car and have the same issue with the cover not fitting. I'll have to hack it up at some point. Maybe with my Dremel tool, I can make it look halfway decent. Good luck with the project, looks like a good starting point.

Thanks! Yeah the way this cover was cut looks terrible. If it has to be cut for the pump, someone could have took their time and it could have been made to look a lot better.

[Ron]

Congrats!

Yeah the way this cover was cut looks terrible. If it has to be cut for the pump, someone could have took their time and it could have been made to look a lot better.

I haven't seen one that the correct orientation and a heat gun wouldn't take care of...

[DMC-81]

Congrats!


I haven't seen one that the correct orientation and a heat gun wouldn't take care of...

Congrats Nathan! Welcome back.

Just to add to this, sometimes attaching the bottom screws to the cover and then the top ones helps, because the bottom of the spare tire well has some give to it.

[JAZ_DMC]

Very cool! I'll look forward to following along. I'm a big fan of the early cars. I just bought VIN 952 a little over a month ago.

[Mark D]

Awesome car! Looks like you've definitely got projects to work on but overall pretty solid.

I'm also interested to hear what it was like owning a Viper for a couple of years. It's on my bucket list of cars to own but I'd probably have to sell my DeLorean to get one. Was it a worthwhile purchase and did you enjoy it for the time you had it?

[Domi]

Congratulation on your purchase, and good luck for the job you'll have to do.

[Iznodmad]

Congrats Nathan! I’m glad you and Scott could work out a deal. He texted me after y’all made the deal, figured you would eventually make a thread for it here. Can’t wait to see your progress with 1800!

[Patrick C]

I do know whoever worked on this thing in the past had no clue what to do and just did things half-assed. There are literally screws drilled into different things on the car instead of installing the correct way...The DMC logo side sills for another.

VIN 1880 says hello! And believe it or not, the screws in the DMC side sills are from the Quality Assurance Center. VIN 1880 had them as well, and upon replacing them with new sills, you can see how the plastic tabs on the bottom were redesigned from the early cars so they fit better.