The saga continues... [Archive] - DMCTalk Forum

DaraSue

08-09-2016, 01:24 AM

So I got my inspection report back from DMCMW. Overall pretty good, but needs new shocks, A/C adapters, evaporator, some belts tightened, spare tire, rack bearings, and a few relatively minor things.

... aaaaand the small matter of one of the trailing arm bolts snapping in half while they were checking it. :ohcrap: He didn't actually say that the whole back end was about to fall off but I couldn't help picturing it in graphic detail anyway.

Yeeeesh. Glad I took everybody's advice and got the inspection before I tried to drive it 1500 miles! What's that saying... "learn from the mistakes of others because you won't live long enough to make them all yourself"?

Lwanmtr

08-09-2016, 03:28 AM

Dangermouse

08-09-2016, 08:01 AM

Well that was certainly money well spent :)

I mean the inspection, not the car.

DaraSue

08-09-2016, 11:07 AM

Wow...good thing. Im still saving up for my complete inspection and suspension rebuild.

I'm kinda glad mine wasnt able to run to make the 1500 miles or so from vegas to wa...woulda been dead in the desert...lol.

Ironically I'd also looked at one in Vegas (that I lost the auction on) and was planning on checking out two in SoCal the next time I had a long weekend. I probably would have rolled the dice on just driving one of them back, so who knows if they would have had the same or some other problem. Ah well, as Aslan said, "no-one is ever told what might have been"...

Well that was certainly money well spent :)

I mean the inspection, not the car.

Heh, maybe I should have held out for one that was closer/better/cheaper but at this point I figure I'm not just paying for the car, I'm paying for however many months/years I don't have to spend shopping for the car. (Would I pay $1000 a month to rent a DeLorean? Probably. So by that metric if I pay an extra $5000 but get the car 6 months sooner than I otherwise might have, I'm still ahead. :cool: )

louielouie2000

08-09-2016, 11:29 AM

Ironically I'd also looked at one in Vegas (that I lost the auction on) and was planning on checking out two in SoCal the next time I had a long weekend. I probably would have rolled the dice on just driving one of them back, so who knows if they would have had the same or some other problem. Ah well, as Aslan said, "no-one is ever told what might have been"...

Heh, maybe I should have held out for one that was closer/better/cheaper but at this point I figure I'm not just paying for the car, I'm paying for however many months/years I don't have to spend shopping for the car. (Would I pay $1000 a month to rent a DeLorean? Probably. So by that metric if I pay an extra $5000 but get the car 6 months sooner than I otherwise might have, I'm still ahead. :cool: )

The to-do list on your car is quite short as far as DeLoreans go- it sounds like you picked a solid car. The fact that your trailing arm bolt snapped while being inspected at a DMC franchise is another sign you have fantastic luck, and made a smart decision getting the car inspected as your first priority. Enjoy the car and upload some pics when you get a chance!

DaraSue

08-09-2016, 02:16 PM

The to-do list on your car is quite short as far as DeLoreans go- it sounds like you picked a solid car. The fact that your trailing arm bolt snapped while being inspected at a DMC franchise is another sign you have fantastic luck, and made a smart decision getting the car inspected as your first priority. Enjoy the car and upload some pics when you get a chance!

Thanks, that's one way to put a positive spin on it. :) I'm still planning on driving it home so assuming they don't find any more dealbreakers while they're working, expect a road trip report in a couple weeks. Hopefully my luck holds out, lol...

Lwanmtr

08-09-2016, 03:44 PM

I hope you're able to do that...to date I've driven mine about 4 miles total. Had a make run service done at DMCNW..was driving it home..1 mile rear fell off (luckily no damage, and Toby came out and helped me get it back on)...on the freeway it was smoking (later i found it was just coolant from the loose hose on the bottle), so I got it towed home, since I knew I had tons to do before really being able to drive it.

DaraSue

08-09-2016, 03:55 PM

DMCMW Dave

08-09-2016, 04:00 PM

That trailing arm bolt (TAB) was one of the stranger things I've come across.

As part of the inspection, we loosen the nut on the TAB, spin it looking for bends, and then tighten it back up until the customer says "fix it" or not. The TABs on this one were torqued to about 5 ft-lbs (!) so after the test, I tightened them back up. With a 1/2" ratchet. At maybe 30 ft-lbs the bolt snapped! So it got replaced right away. Upon inspection, it was obvious that the bolt was cracked and had been for some time (there was a dark/corroded area about 1/3 the way across the broken face. Weird. Otherwise the frame of the car was remarkably corrosion-free (Texas car) so fame condition was no indicator of potential issues on the bolt.

We find bent bolts all the time, but I've never broken one. I'm not strong enough to break a bolt that big.

Lwanmtr

08-09-2016, 04:19 PM

Yeah, I'll probably just have those replaced when I get mine up to Toby for inspection and the other oily bits Im not comfortable doing myself.

Citizen

08-09-2016, 04:29 PM

That trailing arm bolt (TAB) was one of the stranger things I've come across.
[snip]
We find bent bolts all the time, but I've never broken one. I'm not strong enough to break a bolt that big.

I was wondering how a TAB broke during an inspection, so thanks for posting that Dave. Saved me a post having to ask .... Wait, woops, just used it up thanking Dave!

...

DMCMW Dave

08-09-2016, 05:02 PM

I was wondering how a TAB broke during an inspection, so thanks for posting that Dave. Saved me a post having to ask .... Wait, woops, just used it up thanking Dave!

...

Y'all might find this interesting.

4528645287

Lwanmtr

08-09-2016, 05:20 PM

Ouchie

mr_maxime

08-09-2016, 06:41 PM

My old shadetree mechanic coworker gave me crap for having DMCMW inspect and work on my car. He stopped after I told him I was about to take a 35 year old car on an 800 mile trip with no tools or spare parts. I dont regret a bit of it because I had a rather uneventful trip and constant A/C.

DMCVegas

08-10-2016, 12:11 AM

Save for the snapping, the wear and staining looks just like my bolts when I replaced them years ago. I bought a set of Toby Tabs, so I'm not worried about them now, but they looked just like that.

DaraSue

08-10-2016, 12:58 PM

Update: The estimate to do all the safety/maintenance stuff (including fixing the $1 part that requires removal of the whole transmission to get to) was around $6k. Worse than I'd hoped but better than I'd feared. The frame was in really good shape and the interior was pretty decent, too. The original owner kept it garaged, even if his last 3,000 mile oil change was in 1987, lol. Dave said if they'd done everything including what the seller did they would have sold the car for around $45K so it sounds like I still got a pretty good deal and should have a relatively trouble-free car. Woohoo!

Farrar

08-10-2016, 01:13 PM

Congrats, DaraSue! Incidentally, what is "the LC?" Luxembourg City?

DaraSue

08-10-2016, 01:36 PM

Congrats, DaraSue! Incidentally, what is "the LC?" Luxembourg City?

Nah, just my attempt to make Salt Lake City sound cooler than it actually is. :rock_on:

Lwanmtr

08-10-2016, 03:47 PM

Thats a pretty good bill for getting the car up n going all happy.

Hehe...LC...sadly, no way to really make tacoma sound cool.

DMCVegas

08-10-2016, 04:47 PM

Nah, just my attempt to make Salt Lake City sound cooler than it actually is. :rock_on:

Could be worse. I'm stuck in Texas which is great on the BBQ & Kolaches, but knows little about Dutch ovens, and nothing of Funeral Potatoes. They vaguely have fry sauce here, and everything else is either deep fried or recklessly slathered in butter. Even the tortillas for reasons I will never fathom...

Anyway, sometimes your hometown isn't as bad as you think it is.

David T

08-10-2016, 09:45 PM

Just think what it could have cost if, during your trip you snapped that TAB. Besides the obvious you could have wrecked the car! If not totally wrecking the car, you could have caused extensive damage to the rear quarter panel. In hindsight you made the proper choice and were vindicated by that TAB. 6K on a 30 + year old car to get it "up to snuff" is not as bad as it sounds. That includes all of the labor and that is a big part of the bill. At least it sounds like you have a solid car to begin with and should provide many years of trouble-free miles. The down-side is don't think you won't have any other problems show up that will have to be attended to but they should be minor.

DaraSue

08-12-2016, 10:15 AM

Could be worse. I'm stuck in Texas which is great on the BBQ & Kolaches, but knows little about Dutch ovens, and nothing of Funeral Potatoes. They vaguely have fry sauce here, and everything else is either deep fried or recklessly slathered in butter. Even the tortillas for reasons I will never fathom...

Anyway, sometimes your hometown isn't as bad as you think it is.

"deep fried or recklessly slathered in butter" sounds like a feature, not a bug. :tongue_stick: There are a couple of things here I'd miss if I moved somewhere else. Like the all-you-can eat Brazilian bbq and the cupcakes and the macarons. Wouldn't miss the snow, though.

Just think what it could have cost if, during your trip you snapped that TAB. Besides the obvious you could have wrecked the car! If not totally wrecking the car, you could have caused extensive damage to the rear quarter panel. In hindsight you made the proper choice and were vindicated by that TAB. 6K on a 30 + year old car to get it "up to snuff" is not as bad as it sounds. That includes all of the labor and that is a big part of the bill. At least it sounds like you have a solid car to begin with and should provide many years of trouble-free miles. The down-side is don't think you won't have any other problems show up that will have to be attended to but they should be minor.

Yeah, that would have been a cruel twist of fate if I'd finally gotten my dream car only to have it break in half on the drive home. Crossing my fingers that this is the last major repair for a while.

Thats a pretty good bill for getting the car up n going all happy.

Hehe...LC...sadly, no way to really make tacoma sound cool.

"Tacoma: Almost But Not Quite Seattle"? IDK, man... ;)

Lwanmtr

08-12-2016, 03:36 PM

Yeah, that would have been a cruel twist of fate if I'd finally gotten my dream car only to have it break in half on the drive home. Crossing my fingers that this is the last major repair for a while.

If you've seen my restoration thread, you mighta seen an entry something like... My wheel fell off a mile down the road from DMCNW after they did a make run...luckily no damage was done..lol.

Farrar

08-13-2016, 01:39 AM

Robert: Interesting reading about your Texas culinary experience. When I was there during what I call my "2008 Hurrication," the most prevalent feature I found was that it was almost impossible to get a side item of any vegetable without bacon in it. LOL

Best wishes from "The N.O." ... Hmm ... On second thought, let's not call it that. :P

Citizen

08-13-2016, 08:26 AM

Could be worse. I'm stuck in Texas which is great on the BBQ & Kolaches, but knows little about Dutch ovens, and nothing of Funeral Potatoes. They vaguely have fry sauce here, and everything else is either deep fried or recklessly slathered in butter. Even the tortillas for reasons I will never fathom...

Wo-ah, hold on there pawd-na...vaguely have fry sauce??? We here in Texas have fry sauce alright. It's plentiful, inexpensive, deep red in color, made from tomatoes and spices, and is quite good!

... the most prevalent feature I found was that it was almost impossible to get a side item of any vegetable without bacon in it. LOL

Bacon on sides? Hmmm....I'm just not seeing the problem here??
: )

But, back on topic:

Yeah, that would have been a cruel twist of fate if I'd finally gotten my dream car only to have it break in half on the drive home. Crossing my fingers that this is the last major repair for a while.

I too had an incident after leaving the DMC facility last time I was having work done on some things I couldn't do myself. The engine quit on me a few times driving home. How ironic I thought. After a while, I was able to restart and limp home. Turned out to be fuel related (which wasn't something I had it in the shop for). And of course this was all before I installed the new integrated one from DMC, which has been working fine every since.

Thomas

...

DaraSue

08-14-2016, 03:31 PM

If you've seen my restoration thread, you mighta seen an entry something like... My wheel fell off a mile down the road from DMCNW after they did a make run...luckily no damage was done..lol.

I too had an incident after leaving the DMC facility last time I was having work done on some things I couldn't do myself. The engine quit on me a few times driving home. How ironic I thought. After a while, I was able to restart and limp home. Turned out to be fuel related (which wasn't something I had it in the shop for). And of course this was all before I installed the new integrated one from DMC, which has been working fine every since.
...

Oh man, just when I was starting to feel 95% confident about driving home... LOL. It sounded like mine was going to be in pretty good shape once they finished the work, so crossing my fingers that if anything else important's going to break, it does it in the first 200 miles... ;)

Lwanmtr

08-14-2016, 03:43 PM

Lol...you probably dont have to worry too much..mine was a fluke, they hadnt done anything to the wheels..so it was prolly not tightened.

Cant wait to hear your travel adventure

DaraSue

08-16-2016, 02:38 AM

Lol...you probably dont have to worry too much..mine was a fluke, they hadnt done anything to the wheels..so it was prolly not tightened.

Cant wait to hear your travel adventure

Hah, thanks. I had the full inspection so I'm pretty sure they found everything that could possibly break. I'm starting to wish I'd just sucked it up and paid the extra for a fully reconditioned one with a warranty because the anticipation is killing me and the lag between paying for it and picking it up was just long enough to let me start picturing everything that could go hideously wrong (except they didn't actually have what I was looking for in stock at the time I was looking, so I guess that wouldn't have helped).

Arrrgh, somebody lend me a time machine so I can go a week into the future already...

Lwanmtr

08-16-2016, 03:09 AM

DaraSue

08-16-2016, 03:47 AM

Different kinda waiting you have to pick it up...I get to look at mine every day and cant yet drive it...hehe.

Buying one that needs work means you saved a car...you'll prolly be much happier than if you had bought off the showroom (or at least thats something to tell yourself).

Haha... the guy I bought it from said most of his restores are getting snapped up by European collectors. I bet they don't even drive them. It'll have a much fuller and more adventurous life with me. :biggrin:

Lwanmtr

08-16-2016, 03:56 AM

When completed, mine will be my daily driver..no point havin' a car that just sits in the garage (ok, mine has an excuse, she's in peices)

Farrar

08-16-2016, 11:08 AM

(ok, mine has an excuse, she's in peices)

It's a valid excuse. :thumbup:

Mine needs the engine replaced. The longer it sits the more I think that there will be more surprises when I start the car's revivification. At first I felt guilty about letting it sit for so long, but there was too much of "the rest of life" in the way for that period of time, and that was that. In my opinion the worst thing you can do for a car is just let it sit. But sometimes it's unavoidable.

I give kudos to the owners who avoid turning their cars into museum pieces - even if it takes a while to get 'em back on the road!

DaraSue

08-21-2016, 02:44 AM

Well, after all that (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?14107-Best-way-to-get-to-DMC-MW-from-Midway), now it's got a shimmy at 60MPH so if the solution isn't something simple like a wheel balance, I might not be able to get it this week after all, and I'll probably have to have it delivered b/c my next week off that I don't have unbreakable plans for isn't til Dec. :bawling:

Trying to tell myself it might be for the best to have it trailered out but it just lacks a certain something in the "memorable life experience" department.

Everyone say a prayer to the car gods for me...

Lwanmtr

08-21-2016, 02:55 AM

I know how ya feel...i had intentions of driving mine home from vegas to tacoma...ended up on a trailer anyway..hehe. Maybe it'll be something they can fix so you can have that experience.

Farrar

08-21-2016, 12:43 PM

it's got a shimmy at 60MPH

I was told that they all do that... No?

content22207_2

08-21-2016, 01:00 PM

I was told that they all do that... No?

Paging Byrne Heninger and Ed Uding (real LCA's and wishbone brackets).

Bill Robertson
#5939

DMCMW Dave

08-21-2016, 02:57 PM

Fix the real problem - it's out of balance, a bad tire (they are new but it happens) or a bent wheel.

The extra brackets might hide it but it's still there. We've driven dozens if not hundreds of DeLoreans, and "the Don't all do that" and they should not shimmy at speed.

refugeefromcalif

08-21-2016, 04:51 PM

I've Never had a Shimmy/Vibration problem with my D. The only vibration problem I ever had turned out to be warped front rotors.
My 1993 del Sol, (since new), has Always had a front end vibration between 53 and 58 MPH. Multiple dealers/mechanics , (and different tire/wheel combinations), over the years haven't found the problem or fixed it.

George

content22207_2

08-21-2016, 05:12 PM

Wasn't this car checked out by DMCMW? Did they experience a shimmy while test driving it?

Bill Robertson
#5939

DaraSue

08-21-2016, 06:42 PM

Wasn't this car checked out by DMCMW? Did they experience a shimmy while test driving it?

Yeah, it's still there. They found the shimmy during the road test after doing everything else. They're going to try rebalancing the wheels tomorrow morning and checking for a bent wheel and hopefully that works (and I get an answer before I'm on the plane!)

Lwanmtr

08-21-2016, 07:10 PM

Here's to hoping thats all it is

DaraSue

08-22-2016, 02:48 PM

Well, Mike didn't think it was the wheels so they're going to try replacing the shocks. Hopefully that does it b/c I'm on the plane right now. :nervous:

Lwanmtr

08-22-2016, 03:35 PM

Hopefully it'll be sorted by the time you land ..New shocks never a bad thing.... 8)

refugeefromcalif

08-22-2016, 04:13 PM

Good Luck!

George

DMCMW Dave

08-22-2016, 04:51 PM

Well, Mike didn't think it was the wheels so they're going to try replacing the shocks. Hopefully that does it b/c I'm on the plane right now. :nervous:

That will probably do it. The front shocks are really bad as we noted on the inspection.

Sent from phone

Rich_NYS

08-22-2016, 10:10 PM

Sending positive vibes your way.....I think everything is going to be A-OK!

DaraSue

08-23-2016, 03:24 AM

Mystery solved, it was the shocks. I drove from Crystal Lake to Iowa City tonight and it ran like a champ! Report to follow next time I have wifi and it isn't 2:30 in the morning. :biggrin:

Lwanmtr

08-23-2016, 03:41 AM

Yaay! :rollin:

whocruiser

08-23-2016, 11:40 AM

Good for you! Drive stainless (and flawless!) all the way home... :rollin: :driving1:

Jonathan

08-23-2016, 11:55 AM

That will probably do it. The front shocks are really bad as we noted on the inspection.

Sent from phone

Mystery solved, it was the shocks. I drove from Crystal Lake to Iowa City tonight and it ran like a champ! Report to follow next time I have wifi and it isn't 2:30 in the morning. :biggrin:

That's great news! Glad to hear the first leg of your journey has been a success.

Would be interested in seeing or hearing a description of what really bad shocks look like. I can picture the ones that look all toppled over to one side, but not much else. Got me curious when the "shimmy at 60 mph" was mentioned earlier.

DMCMW Dave

08-23-2016, 12:26 PM

That's great news! Glad to hear the first leg of your journey has been a success.

Would be interested in seeing or hearing a description of what really bad shocks look like. I can picture the ones that look all toppled over to one side, but not much else. Got me curious when the "shimmy at 60 mph" was mentioned earlier.

They look just like good shocks. But when you bounce the front of the car, it acts like the shocks are not there at all. That's what I saw on this car.

This is unusual failure on a DeLorean, usually the OE shocks get really hard when old.

Jonathan

08-23-2016, 01:53 PM

They look just like good shocks. But when you bounce the front of the car, it acts like the shocks are not there at all. That's what I saw on this car.

This is unusual failure on a DeLorean, usually the OE shocks get really hard when old.

For some reason I read "shocks" but was thinking "springs." D'oh!

Nevermind, move along, nothing to see here... lol