Just bought my DeLorean

[Justin51982]

Hello all. Just became the proud owner of 6068! Very excited as I've wanted one my entire life. She'll need a little work, but motor compression is strong and body is near perfect. Interior is more or less shot to hell, but that's easy enough. I bought the car from John of DeLorean Auto parts up in Dallas.

One question I do have right off the bat though....The cable for the bonnet is just missing so I can't open the hood/bonnet. I tried the bent hanger to no avail. Anybody have any suggestions or know of another way to get the bonnet released?

Thanks!
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[DavidProehl]

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the fold! Thanks for posting pics.

Is the hood release cable completely missing or just broken? It should look like a bicycle brake cable running through the firewall in the footwell. If you have anything there you can grab the wire inside with a pair of vice grips and pull.

If you can't get the latch with a wire hanger, which would be pretty hard I'm guessing, you may need to remove the front fascia to have access to the hood hinges. Then you can remove the hinges to open the hood from the front of the car. Other things to do when your fascia is off: paint it, install aluminum bars to remove eyebrows (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?776-How-to-Repair-Eyebrows-with-Fascia-Attached).

Once you get this sorted out, install a backup cable (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?10847-Hood-backup-cable) so you don't have to deal with this again!

[Rich_NYS]

Congratulations!! :thumbup:

[Justin51982]

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the fold! Thanks for posting pics.

Is the hood release cable completely missing or just broken? It should look like a bicycle brake cable running through the firewall in the footwell. If you have anything there you can grab the wire inside with a pair of vice grips and pull.

If you can't get the latch with a wire hanger, which would be pretty hard I'm guessing, you may need to remove the front fascia to have access to the hood hinges. Then you can remove the hinges to open the hood from the front of the car. Other things to do when your fascia is off: paint it, install aluminum bars to remove eyebrows (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?776-How-to-Repair-Eyebrows-with-Fascia-Attached).

Once you get this sorted out, install a backup cable (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?10847-Hood-backup-cable) so you don't have to deal with this again!

That's a good idea. I didn't think about going through the facia...That may be my only way. I agree on the cable and both front and rear facia's need to come off anyway.

Thank you! I'll give that a go.

Also, thank you guys for the warm welcome!

[Jonathan]

Did you confirm there is no cable whatsoever still reaching into the cabin like David mentioned?

If you take a few pictures of your driver's footwell looking up and forward from underneath and post them here, someone might be able to help you spot what is left. Vice grips are going to be much easier than removing the hood if you have that option.

[Justin51982]

Did you confirm there is no cable whatsoever still reaching into the cabin like David mentioned?

If you take a few pictures of your driver's footwell looking up and forward from underneath and post them here, someone might be able to help you spot what is left. Vice grips are going to be much easier than removing the hood if you have that option.

I got up under there with a drop light and searched and searched. I'll do it again tonight when I get home from work and snap a few photos in case I am missing something.

[Domi]

Congratulation on your purchase, have fun now :thumbup2:

[sdg3205]

I understand you can jack up the car at the front, remove the left front wheel and get in via the brake resovoire access with a coat hanger.

You're in for a ton of fun!!

[Trstno1]

Congrats!!!! Let the fun begin😜

[Riley88]

I am a recently new owner too and its been a freaking blast so far. Congrats on your new ownership dude!

[Justin51982]

I am a recently new owner too and its been a freaking blast so far. Congrats on your new ownership dude!

Congrats to you too!

[DMC-81]

I understand you can jack up the car at the front, remove the left front wheel and get in via the brake resovoire access with a coat hanger.

You're in for a ton of fun!!

Congratulations on your purchase! As for the hood release, here is the Service Technical bulletin that describes it in detail. http://www.dmcnews.com/bulletins/ST-21-10.81.html

Cheers.

[OverlandMan]

Hey Justin. Greetings from a fellow Texan. Did you buy the car from John Hervey in Forney? Just curious. I'm in the Dallas 'burbs.

[TTait]

John sells replacement cables - maybe he will help you out.

[Justin51982]

Thank you everyone for the help.

I went through the brake reservoir cover and it seems a previous owner had the same issue and had an emergency cable installed through there, so it's now opened!!
It turned out that (likely) the same previous owner got rid of the original cable and replaced it with a generic solenoid to pop it open (one that doesn't work).

I can't thank everyone enough for their help. Every car has their nuances and I just haven't learned what all this one has, but so far this forum has been a tremendous help!!

OverlandMan, Yes, I did get the car from John, if you've been over there, it was the one sitting up against the house, a buddy of mine bought the other one sitting in the driveway.

TTait - I am planning on buying a few things from him...He seems a lot more reasonable than DMC.

[Nicholas R]

Is the cable completely missing or just broken off. If it's broken off somewhere inside the sheath, you could always just cut back the sheath until you get to the cable, grab it with vice grips, and pull. Then replace everything.

If there is no cable at all, then either the coat hanger or front hinge removal method will likely have to be used.

[Tillsy]

He's already got in there Nick ;)

[ALEXAKOS]

Awesome! ! Looks like a nice project to work on. Dino if somebody else metioned it. . But beware when towing backwards. Louvers pop open and tear off!

[Justin51982]

Yeah, that was not ideal, but the way the tires are and the tow capacity of my vehicle (Volvo XC60) I didn't have much of a choice. I did bungee the louvers down to prevent lift and then I drove 55 from Dallas back to San Antonio.

[Andy]

Did you buy VIN#06068 (like in your first post) of VIN#06568 (like it says in you avatar)?

[Dangermouse]

One of Johns cars was 6568, so I would assume it is that one.

Is that your Mini too, Justin? Looks like a nice '90s model?


Congrats on the purchase :race:

[Justin51982]

Did you buy VIN#06068 (like in your first post) of VIN#06568 (like it says in you avatar)?


6568....BUT it's past the time of letting me edit my initial post to correct that.

[Justin51982]

You're good. That WAS my Mini....Sold it the other day to fund the DeLorean. Its a '91, good eye.

I also have a Trabant. :)

[djdogbone]

I sold my '58 VW Ragtop to do the same thing!