Delorean Body Kit

[Stephen Burns]

Hello all,

Let me start by saying that I'm a proud DeLorean owner. I think that needs to be said since what I'm about to propose may be considered taboo among DeLorean enthusiasts.

I've read some other threads on the idea of a DeLorean body kit and why it's a bad idea. I understand a DeLorean can be purchased for less than the cost of attempting a body swap. What interests me about the idea of a DeLorean kit car is the prospect of having a fast, reliable car with the stunning looks of a DeLorean.

The car that my search has led me to is a Honda S2000. The wheelbase is nearly identical to that of a Delorean. At 237 stock horsepower, I feel that it would be adequately powered. That car is technically a mid engine car since the engine is mounted behind the front axle. This design makes it an ideal candidate for being able to fit the engine inside the low front of a DeLorean.

To oversimplify, I'm proposing to marry the Delorean fiberglass body tub to the chassis and interior of the S2000, then install the stainless panels. Essentially it would be a Honda interior with Delorean doors and windshield. The stock DeLorean wheels would be used. All electronics would be from the Honda but connect to Delorean components (headlights, etc.)

My existing Delorean would not be cannibalized. The donor car for this project would be something unsalvageable or maybe even NOS parts from Houston.

Looking forward to some feedback.

Steve






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[Michael]

Forget the panels and find a hulk fiberglass tub and start there. If by some miracle you can graft that onto a S2000 then you might have a chance.

[rickjames8]

Hello all,

Let me start by saying that I'm a proud DeLorean owner. I think that needs to be said since what I'm about to propose may be considered taboo among DeLorean enthusiasts.

I've read some other threads on the idea of a DeLorean body kit and why it's a bad idea. I understand a DeLorean can be purchased for less than the cost of attempting a body swap. What interests me about the idea of a DeLorean kit car is the prospect of having a fast, reliable car with the stunning looks of a DeLorean.

The car that my search has led me to is a Honda S2000. The wheelbase is nearly identical to that of a Delorean. At 237 stock horsepower, I feel that it would be adequately powered. That car is technically a mid engine car since the engine is mounted behind the front axle. This design makes it an ideal candidate for being able to fit the engine inside the low front of a DeLorean.

To oversimplify, I'm proposing to marry the Delorean fiberglass body tub to the chassis and interior of the S2000, then install the stainless panels. Essentially it would be a Honda interior with Delorean doors and windshield. The stock DeLorean wheels would be used. All electronics would be from the Honda but connect to Delorean components (headlights, etc.)

My existing Delorean would not be cannibalized. The donor car for this project would be something unsalvageable or maybe even NOS parts from Houston.

Looking forward to some feedback.

Steve

You're in luck!! Your donor car is for sale : https://atlanta.craigslist.org/sat/cto/5931092852.html

By the way, I do think this is an interesting idea. I'd love to see it done. Like they always say, with enough time and money, anything is possible.

What you're proposing is a chassis-swap. To find some good examples and some pretty creative people, head here: http://www.build-threads.com/tag/chassis-swap/. From there, most of the links will likely take you to GRM - that'd be the crowd to advise you on this build. If you do take it on, please keep us updated with the project.

[Morpheus]

Does a S2000 have a frame or is it unibody? I can't imagine how one would accomplish this. You would be better off just doing an engine and partial interior swap and leaving the frame and body intact.

[vwdmc16]

S2ks are unibody, im really not seeing how you are going to marry these very radically different cars together.

How would any honda interior parts work for this, it will all need to be modified anyways to the point you might as well start from scratch if not using the dmc stuff.
Not like a s2k door panel will fit the gullwing door.

As a fabricator the best way I would combine the elements of those two cars is using that dmc underbody with panels, build a full custom tube frame to stick under with the f20 drivetrain and suspension. Then you could insert some honda interior bits in like seats and cluster if that's what you want. Legally it would still be titled as a Dmc.

I really think the end product would be much nicer and well built if it was a DeLorean with s2k drivetrain swap than a s2k with the shell of a DeLorean grafted on to it. Having known a person who built really nice ferrari 355 kit car out of a Fiero, it was not the way to go about it.

[Stephen Burns]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm going to mess with the design a little bit on auto-cad and see what I can come up with. Does anyone know of a car that would be better suited than the S2000? Maybe something with a rear engine.


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[Michael]

I think what everyone who has been down that road is trying to say is you are far better off to replace the drivetrain in a DeLorean rather than try to marry a body to a frame/drivetrain from another vehicle.

To my knowledge it has never been done except when Jesse James' crew tried it and that didn't turn out well.

[Mark D]

The only successful example I can think of of a body on frame swap is the D-Rex, but that's in a completely different category.

[Dangermouse]

Gowdy did it with a Blazer, IIRC, and that was an outstanding success.




Back to your original question - all replica supercars are apparently based on Fieros, but again it's unibody (I think) so you would have to come up with a custom f/g suit.

[vwdmc16]

If you think about it, there is a reason that there really is no such thing as a kit car DeLorean. I have gotten that question a few times at gas stations. Is that a kit car or a real car?. So I did some research and I found there really aren't any proper DeLorean kit cars, just poorly done BTTF convertions to vaguely delorean shaped cars. The reason for that I think it's because buying an actual DeLorean really is in the range of the cost to build one from scratch, so there is no need to create a fake, it's not like they only made 500, they made what 9000? But they are not exactly rare and hard to find especially now the power of the internet.

Really you need to ask what is it that you want? A car that is fast and handles like a Honda S2000 but looks like a DeLorean? If that's so and get a DeLorean and make it fast, it's really that simple.

[David T]

There is also the Delorean hovercraft, the 4 door limo, and the convertible. The reason there are not all that many "conversions", if that is the correct term, is because it is so hard to do them. Lotus is the only other car that had that shape frame with the central tube down the middle and the Y ends (the "backbone) frame. So not only can't you easily use a unibody frame (no such thing!) any other conventionally framed car won't fit under the fiberglass tub. As suggested, you could build a tube body on a frame and hang the panels on it, getting rid of the fiberglass tub. The frame and suspension is really not the problem. In fact, it is well worth keeping. The problem is the underpowered drive train. Your choices there are also limited. You can either try increasing the power of the stock set-up or engineer a swap. IMHO the swap would be a Lotus V-8 and uprated Renault UN-1 transmission from a Lotus Esprit circa 1997-2004. Good luck finding that for under $30K. To "improve" the HP on the PRV an Island Turbo kit or equivalent. That is doable for under $5K. All of the choices come down to how big your budget is and how fast you want to go.

[DMCVegas]

Really you need to ask what is it that you want? A car that is fast and handles like a Honda S2000 but looks like a DeLorean? If that's so and get a DeLorean and make it fast, it's really that simple.

This...



I think what everyone who has been down that road is trying to say is you are far better off to replace the drivetrain in a DeLorean rather than try to marry a body to a frame/drivetrain from another vehicle.

To my knowledge it has never been done except when Jesse James' crew tried it and that didn't turn out well.

And this too!

As stated, you really need to ask yourself what it is that you're wanting, as well as what your perceptions about the DeLorean are, and WHY you have them.

The later production DMC-12 is a good, reliable car...when you start with a good , reliable car. What we have now are 36 year-old used cars, and like all used cars probably have had their maintenance neglected in many cases. So the aspect of "reliability" with a DeLorean is only as ambiguous as the work that has been put into it. Just follow the manual to get your car back to a reliable status, ask for help when you need it, and your car will be fine. By contrast you'll be off on your own with whatever frankencar it is you want to build. If you just want to go fast, then just look into an engine swap. Otherwise, just enjoy the car as is.

Chopping up a DeLorean isn't going to hurt my feelings. You customizing a car doesn't affect me at all. The only reason I would ever discourage someone from a project like this is to avoid a never-ending project car hell.

And if it's just because all your friends are into Hondas or something and are giving you a hard time and you want to impress them, well, either sell the car to appease them or find you some new friends.

[mr_maxime]

I also think it would be easier to try to upgrade the Delorean to have the reliability and performance of the S2K than making an S2k have a Delorean body, probably cheaper too. You'd probably have more help from the community as well.

[Timebender]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm going to mess with the design a little bit on auto-cad and see what I can come up with. Does anyone know of a car that would be better suited than the S2000? Maybe something with a rear engine.


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Why don't you do what they did with the BTTF3 DeLorean and make it with a dune buggy chassis? That way it's still rear-engined, and you can then either have a big air-cooled VW in the back like a 2275 with dual carbs, or even at that point mount a smaller V6 like a lot of the dune buggy/sand rail builders do.