Has anyone heard from Tom of Deloreana.com?

[kobachi]

Looks like his last post was May 2016 and he was recovering from a rather nasty flu -- but he hasn't posted anything since then and that's around the last time his website was updated, too. I hope he didn't encounter further medical complications! Does anyone know?

[jackb]

I've been looking forward to some more products from him as well (particularly the LED side markers). I hope all is well with him and he's still around.

[Bill6298]

I could have sworn I just emailed with him a few months ago but the last I could find was 2013. I have a gmail address and will reply back to see if it's still good.

Speaking of Tom, is Walter Coe around? I own Tom's DeLorean from back when he lived in Florida. He and Walter rebuilt just about everything.

[Drive Stainless]

I last communicated with Tom on 9/30/2017. He was alive and well at that time!

[Bill6298]

I last communicated with Tom on 9/30/2017. He was alive and well at that time!

That's great to hear. Beyond Tom's LED and concave mirror products, I've always appreciated his overall knowledge for the past 20 years or so. His welding repair job in my VOD has impressively stood the test of time.

[Bill6298]

Just heard back from Tom. He is doing much better and said he plans on making a full comeback hopefully after the first of the year.

[Tomcio]

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since I've last posted... I'm still here and everything is good. I've had some health issues and had to put everything pretty much on hold. Now I'm just trying to make up for the lost time.
I'm again working on my car and I have already drove it up and down my street. It wasn't a long trip and only got up to second gear but it is a great feeling to finally be able to drive my own DeLorean after so many years. The registration on my car has expired in 2005 and since then the car was taken apart to the last screw/bolt and now reassembled to look like a car again. I did some modifications and improvements during the restoration process. I will explain everything in a separate post. I believe that some of my ideas might inspire others. A short list of the things I did (from the top of my head):
1. Bottom fuel tank closing plate extended all the way to where the center frame section ends
2. Heater core valve - vacuum operated valve was replaced with an electrically operated one and moved to the front of the car
3. Heater core valve will remain closed as long as the temperature knob is set to "cold"
4. Installed third brake light (full LED)
5. Modified mirror heater circuit to work with heated rear window.
6. Installed power adjusted and heated leather seats from a Nissan
7. Installed aftermarket coil-over shocks with adjustable ride height and damping/rebound
And some other "here-and-there" things that I can't remember at this moment ;)

BTW, if anyone is interested I have ordered another production run for the extended convex mirrors. Actually, there were ordered a while ago but the lead time is pretty long. Just spoke with the manufacturer today and the blank mirrors should be ready in about 2 - 3 weeks. I will then need about a week to have them packaged and ready for shipping. I will be posting updates in the mirrors thread on this forum as well as on my website and the DML.

Thanks to everyone asking about me! I appreciate all the kind words. If everything goes well I will not be disappearing again anytime soon ;)

[Bitsyncmaster]

Your replacing the heater valve with an electrical one and making it shut with temp set to cold is the same idea I had. I bought the valve but found it to large to fit up front. I still have it but not finished yet.

[Tomcio]

Yeah, I thought about this ever since the day when it was about 65-68F (18-20C) degrees and I had to use the A/C because when the mode switch was set to "vent" the entire dash got hot and the air coming from the wents was just too hot. I want some cold fresh air from the outside! I don't like the A/C and want to only use it when it's really necessary. It was a different story when I drove the car in FL but now in Europe I only need the A/C for about a month each year.
The valve I got is from a VW car. I found one that has the same size hoses as our heater core and is pretty small.
I also installed a micro switch on the back of the temperature knob. As soon as I move the knob from the indent on the cold side the valve opens.
Will have some pictures and more details soon.

[Bitsyncmaster]

My valve has a geared motor on it so it stays open or closed without power. It takes very little current when the motor runs but it was just a little to big to fit up front. I may be able to fit it in the engine compartment. I like to run the AC on NORM if it's not to hot outside.

[Tomcio]

My VW unit is a magnet type valve - mono-stable. It draws about 250mA when activated. It is normally open so the coolant gets a chance to move through the heater core once in a while. When power is applied the valve closes. As soon as you remove power a return spring forces the valve open. I like it. Got a brand new unit for about $20. The only thing I'm not too happy about is how loud this darn thing is ;) It closes with a noticeable "clunk" but I can live with it... with the engine running it's not really an issue. I'm sure it will be better once I get new carpeting installed. Those bare floors resonate a lot.
I'm sure your motor driven one is a lot quieter than this.

[Bitsyncmaster]

The motor drive is very noisy but I don't think it will be run much. Pretty much only fall and spring is when I need heat, otherwise it will remain closed.

[BABIS]

Hello Tom, I'm glad you are here again!



2. Heater core valve - vacuum operated valve was replaced with an electrically operated one and moved to the front of the car
3. Heater core valve will remain closed as long as the temperature knob is set to "cold"


I am super interested in this mod ;)

[Tomcio]

Hello Tom, I'm glad you are here again!

Thank you! Yep, I'm still here and it feels good to be back!


I am super interested in this mod ;)

I need to take some higher quality photos of my setup. Unfortunately my old phone was made obsolete by the mighty G and one of the system "upgrades" has made my camera pretty much useless. It used to take really nice pictures...
Just a teaser of the work that I did on my car...
55073

I'll be starting a new thread once I have a chance to take some nice pictures.

Thanks guys!

[Shep]

Glad you're back Tom! And your car too!

There's an app called "Open Camera" -- million times better than anything pre-installed on any Android phone. Torch flash mode is especially nice to check if flash will work. As the name implies, open source. I use F-Droid to keep it updated (think: Google Play Store for open source apps only).

The mirror circuit adjustment, hope you can document that one! Still rocking your mirrors (feeding that heat wire through was a bear though), but I thought the wiring needed to be changed in the door, which is "nope" territory to me if I can avoid it.

Also still need to figure out how to make the mirrors have a wider adjustment range, the passenger one is banging against the outer side and won't adjust outwards enough.

[Tomcio]

Glad you're back Tom! And your car too!

Hi Shep!


There's an app called "Open Camera" (cut)
I've used that app and it is very nice but in my case it's the firmware for the camera and software will not fix it. Example - autofocus will crash the phone causing a reboot even if I only use the built-in flashlight... it activates the camera and reboots the phone. When I asked Google they told me to get a new phone as Nexus is no longer supported.


The mirror circuit adjustment, hope you can document that one! Still rocking your mirrors (feeding that heat wire through was a bear though), but I thought the wiring needed to be changed in the door, which is "nope" territory to me if I can avoid it.
The mod is fairly simple but it disconnects the power mirror operation as well. So, if you need to adjust the mirrors you need to switch the heated rear window on. Since I don't really adjust the mirrors ever this option is fine for me. There is a way to do it so the adjustment is always powered but that requires moving one wire in the left door.


Also still need to figure out how to make the mirrors have a wider adjustment range, the passenger one is banging against the outer side and won't adjust outwards enough.
If the mirror is assembled correctly then there isn't much that can be done. That is pretty much how it is. One possibility might be to add a spacer behind the center mounting point. That unfortunately requires you to remove the mirror and that.... that might be a problem.

[bigmac]

Tom. When are the side markers going to be ready please?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shep]

Tom. When are the side markers going to be ready please?I remember you saying that was still a lower priority before battling the flu for about a year, but don't know I've seen this question answered yet: will they be compatible with the side blinker mod?

[Tomcio]

Tom. When are the side markers going to be ready please?

I'm trying to make up for the lost time now...
I have installed the first set using the new LEDs on my car. It's currently undergoing testing to make sure the new LEDs are good. So far I'm very happy with the results. The lights actually turned out brighter that the OEM bulbs. I'm thinking if I should keep them as bright as possible or if I should dim them down a bit. What do you guys think?

As soon as I'm confident that everything is good I will start assembly. It's a time consuming process as it's manual assembly done by me. I will keep everyone updated on the progress.
For now the mirrors are number one priority. Once that is done I will start assembly on either the door lights or the side markers. TDB


I remember you saying that was still a lower priority before battling the flu for about a year, but don't know I've seen this question answered yet: will they be compatible with the side blinker mod?

Shep, the flu was really no big deal considering what I found out when I went to my doctor. Got some tests done and when the results came in they called me and told me to come in RIGHT NOW. That's when everything else was put on hold. Anyway...
The side markers will work with blinker repeater mod. They will require one component to be added to the wiring and I will probably offer two versions - regular and blinker mod.
Once I get around to building the front parking/turn signal lights they will have a special connector on them and the side marker will either connect to the stock wiring for normal operation or directly to the front light to work as side marker and blinker repeater. Unfortunately that is still a future project although I have to think about building at least the first test set soon. The reason is that the law here doesn't allow yellow parking lights... they need to be white. So, I have designed the light to have three functions 1. yellow turn signal, 2. white parking light, 3. white DRL
We'll see...

[Shep]

I'm thinking if I should keep them as bright as possible or if I should dim them down a bit. What do you guys think?Pics first? Maybe a comparison shot if you're able to compare incandescent vs. "cube LED" vs. your LED, within the red lens.

Me personally, here's how bright I like my bulbs, quoting DPI Josh at varying points:

"Second coming of Christ"
"Saw deer scattering 40 yards behind when backing out of the shop"
"Brake lights that summon demons after dark"
"As if a DeLorean wasn't visible enough..."

Should give you a pretty good feeling of how bright I like 'em :)

I would say take a poll, but you know me, I'm on the list of "buying as soon as it's for sale". Blinker mod, but unless you have a source on clear housings, I gotta stay with 1 set yellow, 1 set red, no white at all because the lenses don't work with it. Blinker mod for both. Hell I'll pre-order if it helps.

- - - - -

Also remember guys, LED's don't burn out, they instead have half-lives of brightness. In other words, after a certain amount of time, the brightness of an LED will halve. I have an "extreme" example of this that I always reference to fully demonstrate the effect, I have attached it here. In essence, the middle row of LED's (while still quite blindingly bright) have only been on a total period of about 5 minutes if we're pushing it. The top and bottom row? 5-10 years. This is worsened by the fact that they are blue LED's, which, while neat looking, dim far faster than any other color. Which is exactly why none of that math works on a car: they're not running 24/7 and they're not running blue primarily, there will be some natural dimming over its lifespan, but it is a very slow and not noticeable process. In fact, it's purely because I know to look for it that I find it.

What I'm getting at is if you're on the fence because you think it might be too bright, it will, via natural use, dim to a level of your liking. Slowly, but it will dim, so give it a chance.

[Tomcio]

Pics first? Maybe a comparison shot if you're able to compare incandescent vs. "cube LED" vs. your LED, within the red lens.

I can probably take a picture of OEM vs. my LEDs. I don't have what you call the "cube LED" and to be honest I'm not even sure what you mean by that.
The obvious difference is that with the bulb you only have a single point of light. With my lights there are 8 LEDs with three chips each. That means you have 24 points of light. It is bright and I like it but I'm not sure if everyone will agree.




"Second coming of Christ"
"Saw deer scattering 40 yards behind when backing out of the shop"
"Brake lights that summon demons after dark"
"As if a DeLorean wasn't visible enough..."

Should give you a pretty good feeling of how bright I like 'em :)

Yep, you made it bright as day ;) That's how I like it too.


Blinker mod, but unless you have a source on clear housings, I gotta stay with 1 set yellow, 1 set red, no white at all because the lenses don't work with it. Blinker mod for both. Hell I'll pre-order if it helps.
That's exactly what I'm planning on doing. I would actually like to make all of the lights with a clear lens. Those are the only points of color on the car and I'd love to remove that color. That is still a future project though.

- - - - -


Also remember guys, LED's don't burn out, they instead have half-lives of brightness.
[...]
What I'm getting at is if you're on the fence because you think it might be too bright, it will, via natural use, dim to a level of your liking. Slowly, but it will dim, so give it a chance.
That is correct but if you are to believe the LED manufacturers that is a very very very long time for a car. The standard figure is 100,000 hours to 70% of initial brightness for red and yellow LEDs. That's over 11 years of continuous use! If you drive your car two hours every day with your lights ON you're going to have to wait 137 YEARS for the lights to dim to 70% of their initial brightness. At that rate I'd say that sometime around the year 2200 they should be equal in brightness to the OEM W5W bulbs. As I said, it's fine with me but I'm not sure if someone will be willing to wait that long ;)

I'll try and take some side-by-side pictures soon.

[Shep]

I don't have what you call the "cube LED" and to be honest I'm not even sure what you mean by that.

I don't know the technical term, but these guys:

https://image.dhgate.com/0x0/f2/albu/g5/M01/BD/4D/rBVaI1jfpySAEyUQAAKEuTJOR-c597.jpg

I call it that because they arrange the SMD LED's in a cube. It's about as big as you can fit with currently available LED bulbs (the pictured style is of T10 bases, but they come in BA9s bases too)


I would actually like to make all of the lights with a clear lens. Those are the only points of color on the car and I'd love to remove that color. That is still a future project though.I've had the exact same thought (heck, if you go to my business site it still shows my rendering about it on the taillights), and even started to follow through with it, but quickly realized doing so would get you pulled over in all 50 US states for one simple reason: by US DOT laws, reflectors must be colored appropriately. White is not a legal reflector color here in the US for any part of your car. Until I can figure out a way to appear white but reflect red, amber, etc., I can't truly make my car as colorless as I want. Even if I did buy a set of taililghts with completely faded turn signals on them from a guy in Canada (seriously, I did).

And if you know of a way, let me know and you'll save me like 3 years of R&D.

[Tomcio]

I don't know the technical term, but these guys: [cut]

Those little things... OK, got ya ;)
I don't have those, I don't like those. The main reason is that they are passive devices with no active current regulation. It's just five LEDs with a resistor. With highly unstable voltage in a car the current will vary widely. Every single one of those fails way before they're predicted lifetime. They either dim quite quickly or simply start flickering and then just die. That is why I decided to build my own using active current source. Regardless what happens with the supply voltage the LEDs always receive exactly what they need.


I call it that because they arrange the SMD LED's in a cube. It's about as big as you can fit with currently available LED bulbs (the pictured style is of T10 bases, but they come in BA9s bases too)

My lights require cutting the back of the light off but you get 8 LEDs instead of 5 and as said above, the current is actively controlled. Instead of a single point of light my design gives you four LEDs directed straight out plus two on each side to light up the reflectors. The effect is really nice.


[cut]...quickly realized doing so would get you pulled over in all 50 US states for one simple reason: by US DOT laws, reflectors must be colored appropriately. White is not a legal reflector color here in the US for any part of your car. Until I can figure out a way to appear white but reflect red, amber, etc., I can't truly make my car as colorless as I want.
And if you know of a way, let me know and you'll save me like 3 years of R&D.
Well, you can't have a reflector that appears white but reflects red. It's physically not possible because what you are seeing is a reflected light anyway. Regardless of the source of the light (sun, street lights, car headlights) the light is always reflected. You can't have a reflector that only reflects one color from a chosen source of light. It will always reflect your chosen color regardless of how you illuminate it.
What you can do is look at some taillights from different manufacturers out there. You can have a clear taillight with a red reflector that is not even a part of the taillight.
Example of some Saab found somewhere on the web:
55184
Notice the clear taillights and a small red reflector mounted just above the exhaust. Works for me and keeps the authorities happy.
As far as I know the side markers do not need to be reflective. You don't even need to have them at all.
Did I just save you 3 years? ;)

[Shep]

LED cube: they're too small to be of useful design, I'm with you on that, but they are still noticeably brighter than stock bulbs, that's kinda what I was saying would be nice to see the different improvement. I'm sensing there might be some "cube vs. new design" here, let me put it this way: cube only grabs attention at night. In daytime, It's visible, but it's really hard to say how many people notice it. Personally give it a bit of sun and yeah it's washed out. I am holding out for your LED setup, but pitched the idea of an LED cube because it's commonly recommended around here, and is another reference point for people to say "wow, it's SO much brighter!"


As far as I know the side markers do not need to be reflective. You don't even need to have them at all.
Did I just save you 3 years? ;)I mean if you're not reflecting then color is null and void, true. But that doesn't make the car truly colorless.(While DOT does say you must have it on your car, enforcement has been negligible.)

Removing all color from the car comes down to the taillights. Ultimately, lens color can be eradicated, as the car you posted clearly demonstrates. DOT requires red reflectors in rear and amber reflectors in front. Front reflectors are basically never enforced if missing, rear ones though tend to attract the attention of the profiling cops who will use that as a reason for a visual inspection or stop. The problem in practice is that you're still left with the reflector itself, which is colored red. Frankly, I don't like the thought of the middle column of red being the only one with red in it by sheer default of that's the one that needs it, and everywhere else is just a terrible idea. Reflectors are a taillight part, I need to keep it as such.

Come to think of it, I do wonder what keeping the reflector red but not quite "reflects red" looks like. That's the point at which I've gone too far and need to add more red. I need to experiment, but the reflectors are key, and 3D printing them didn't pan out, so I'm still figuring out a way to make some at low quantities in-house.

[Ron]

As far as I know the side markers do not need to be reflective. You don't even need to have them at all.

FWIW, in the US, 1968 and later vehicles had to have side lights OR retroreflectors.
Then the US and Canada required both for 1970 and later vehicles.

[Shep]

FWIW, in the US, 1968 and later vehicles had to have side lights OR retroreflectors.
Then the US and Canada required both for 1970 and later vehicles.Do you have a "from the source" on this? God help me, old vehicle laws are just not easy to find on Google. Only spot I have that defines allowable headlight lumens comes from Google Books, for example (I was curious on LED conversions).

[Tomcio]

FWIW, in the US, 1968 and later vehicles had to have side lights OR retroreflectors.
Then the US and Canada required both for 1970 and later vehicles.

Ron,
I wasn't aware of that law. I know that they are required on vehicles over certain length (trucks and buses) but didn't know it also applied to passenger cars.
Over in Europe it's a different story. The side markers are required on long vehicles and are allowed on cars - allowed meaning that you can have them but don't have to.

[Shep]

They're usually integrated into the headlights and taillights actually, they just make those parts wrap around the car just enough to be considered sideways. Here's an example headlight off an '02 Civic (I used to own an '01 that was very similar)

http://cdn.autolightpros.com/media/catalog/product/cache/2/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/3/1/317-1119r-as_1.jpg

The turn signal section is divided in half vertically, and it's the bottom half, just to the left of the chrome circle thing.

I think this next one's an '04 Civic, but here's the taillights off the same generation (which ran from '01 to '05):

https://i.imgur.com/1nCYYoP.jpg

And here's the side profile of that generation car (an '03):

https://www.netcarshow.com/Honda-Civic_Coupe-2003-1280-06.jpg

So by avoiding the separate reflector sections like our DeLoreans did, everything is done on each corner of the car. Easier to run wiring to fewer spots I suppose. Or something like that (they are sometimes diffusers, as our DeLoreans utilize in the taillights themselves)