Delorean Parts Suppliers

[sccheech9]

Hello all,

I am new to the delorean community and I recently purchased 5873. I am in the process of restoring it and was wondering where everyone gets there parts from? I know obviously delorean.com store. I also found delorean nw and pj grady. Is there anywhere else I should be looking? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[OverlandMan]

Hello all,

I am new to the delorean community and I recently purchased 5873. I am in the process of restoring it and was wondering where everyone gets there parts from? I know obviously delorean.com store. I also found delorean nw and pj grady. Is there anywhere else I should be looking? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Aside from what you mentioned, DPI https://www.deloreanindustries.com/ I would also recommend.

You can also reach out to the DMC stores individually if you don't want to use delorean.com for your orders. DMCMW in Chicago is particularly active on this forum.

There are a couple of other vendors but none I would recommend.

[mluder]

There are also parts cross-over lists floating around. You'd be surprised what you can find at your local parts store in a pinch.

That being said, if I'm not in a hurry and can wait for shipping it's best to support the DeLorean affiliated shops. It keeps their doors open and Auto Zone has plenty of other customers.

Cheers
Steve

[ccurzio]

I would also recommend that you do NOT buy parts or do business with "Special T Auto" aka "DeLorean Parts, Inc." or John Hervey.

Some will disagree. Many will agree. This is my opinion.

[sccheech9]

I saw the cross over list and the calipers peaked my interest. I'm wondering if anyone has had luck with the jaguar and the Mercury Capri calipers on there D

[sccheech9]

I would also recommend that you do NOT buy parts or do business with "Special T Auto" aka "DeLorean Parts, Inc." or John Hervey.

Some will disagree. Many will agree. This is my opinion.

Out of curiosity, why?

[ccurzio]

Out of curiosity, why?

General bad business practices. He'll forget to ship you things, be extremely slow about shipping other things, bad mouth other vendors, be VERY antagonistic about any attempts at getting warranty service for his parts because "thousands of people use my products with zero issues so you must be doing something wrong," and other ridiculousness. In addition, many of the parts he stocks just aren't that great quality to begin with. Poorly-built bargain basement stuff.

Stick with doing business with DPI and any of the DMC franchises.

[Dangermouse]

Where are you located?

May play a part in getting parts/advice/personal visits/tech sessions etc

[sccheech9]

Where are you located?

May play a part in getting parts/advice/personal visits/tech sessions etc

I'm in the orlando Florida area

[Jonathan]

Develop a relationship with one or more of the vendors and stick with it. You may drop by and say hello to the guys at DMC FL (Bonita Springs) because it's the closest for you, or give them a call at least. Or pick another that isn't close by necessarily.

The DMC franchises, Florida, Midwest, Northwest, California, the European one and Houston itself generally pull off the same overall inventory of parts. Ordering through the website directly will place your order with Houston directly. Phoning one of the franchises directly will get your order placed directly with the franchise you called. You are getting the same parts at the same prices, but your level of service may change or it may not.

Everyone has their own opinion on that of course and you get to have one yourself too. I tend to like picking up the phone and speaking to a human being as it helps me feel better that things are done correctly. I will often figure out 90% of what I need on my own using the websites and then email my list to them and phone that person to follow up. That's just me and I like to do it that way. (plus getting to catch up over the phone with Julee helps me at times with things unrelated to our silly cars :) )

The franchises sometimes have their own selection of parts that may or may not be found on a website. Northwest has some neat items unique to their development, specifically the "Wings-B-Cool; Wings-A-Loft" sort of parts. So does Europe.

Another quality option for many is with Rob Grady at PJ Grady's and with Josh at DPI. You'll find many more unique and custom parts there, often developed in stainless for our cars. You can go the route of upgraded or improved parts for the cars, whether it's something in stainless or some electronics that were redesigned and improved or you can stick to the original, NOS sort of stuff. There is a place for all of it and it is up to the tastes, discretion and budget of the owner and his car.

You'll find others too, either locally or across the country. I too would rather support the DeLorean specific businesses and not just Auto Zone or Canadian Tire because if the DMC specific ones aren't there anymore, most of us aren't going to continue to be able to drive our cars.

If you're in Orlando, I would recommend calling Tony or whoever picks up the phone at DMCFL. Chat about the car a little bit and then perhaps you take it there at some point fairly early in your ownership. Having someone knowledgeable about the cars looking at yours to get you on the right track can end up saving you a lot of money and headache if it helps you avoid bigger problems you didn't even notice first time around.

I know Dave at Midwest has mentioned offering a "once over" of the car to put a list together of everything that needs attention. It's not meant to sound quick referring to it as a once over, because I understand you will get an absolutely exhaustive list of every area on the car with the corresponding price of parts and labour to make it right. Armed with that, you can decide what to do first and how to do it or who to get help from to fix it. I believe this service of getting a report on your car is about $300-$400 but I'm not sure about that exactly. Nor sure if other shops or franchises offer something similar either. If I was in your shoes and lived close by without a border between me and the service shop, I'd be doing that for sure.

[David T]

Every vender has their shortcomings and bad days. Each is good for certain parts and you will quickly figure it all out. Don't let pricing be the only guide, service is also very important. If you buy at the auto store you have to be very careful if the cross/over part really will fit and work as it should. Every part the Delorean venders sell is tested because they use them to service the cars they work on so you KNOW it will work. In many cases they are actually cheaper too. If you place a large order the venders give discounts and you can save on shipping. Your first order should include filters and manuals. You can, of course, buy stuff like oil, tires, light bulbs and anti-freeze locally. The venders also sell "kits" of parts because they know what you will need to do just about anything on the car and the kit is priced lower than the individual parts.

[sccheech9]

Wow, thanks guys, that's a lot of useful information. I started calling around looking for the left and right armrest with the panels and everyone I've talked to so far has been great! I haven't found one yet, but I will continue the search!

Thanks

[[email protected]]

I know a lot of people don't like him but I still believe you should at least check out John Hervey's website. It helped me a lot when I was just starting out with restoring my D. Personally, I've spent thousands of dollars buying parts from John and he's always been very helpful, a little tempermental at times but knowledgeable in helping me solve problems.

[keepitsimple]

I know a lot of people don't like him but I still believe you should at least check out John Hervey's website. It helped me a lot when I was just starting out with restoring my D. Personally, I've spent thousands of dollars buying parts from John and he's always been very helpful, a little tempermental at times but knowledgeable in helping me solve problems.

hello and welcome and yes dangermouse is right tech sessions helped me a lot a few years ago . Darren has great get togethers every year and was a lifesaver when I restored vin 3143. Special thanks go to Steve Rice and Josh at dpI for quality parts and experience. I just purchased my number 2 an automatic vin 6438 so I ll be calling Josh a lot lol. Good luck with your project.

[Chris4099]

I saw the cross over list and the calipers peaked my interest. I'm wondering if anyone has had luck with the jaguar and the Mercury Capri calipers on there D

I recall they seem to have a smaller calipers in them which will mean less breaking force. Best to stick with D calipers. If price is a concern, just get the rebuild kits many vendors offer and rebuild them yourself. I've never done it myself, bu the process appears simple enough.

[David T]

I recall they seem to have a smaller calipers in them which will mean less breaking force. Best to stick with D calipers. If price is a concern, just get the rebuild kits many vendors offer and rebuild them yourself. I've never done it myself, bu the process appears simple enough.

The caliper bore is not a precision fit. In most cases it can be cleaned up enough with a brake hone and if you get fancy you blast the outside surfaces so you can paint it. Usually they leak because the piston has corroded and the plating is bad. You rebuild it by replacing the seals and the pistons. Sometimes you have to drill out a broken bleeder nipple. Unless the caliper is missing or cracked you shouldn't need to buy one. If you change the brake fluid every other year as recommended you won't have to rebuild them either. If you have a leaky caliper you should do them all AND the master cylinder. If you have a 5-speed you should also do the clutch cylinders.