VIN 1362 - returning to roadworthy condition

[jackb]

So, a little backstory- the other month my friend calls me up, says hey, I need you to go check out this Delorean. The current owner (the former owners widow) had been referred to him, and he referred her to me. The car has been sitting for three years (reportedly, but hasn't been registered in almost 11 years) since her husband had died and she wanted to bring it back to driving condition. It had been parked a mix of inside and outside, and was in generally unknown condition ("ran when parked").
She had just had the ignition rekeyed, and new tires installed.

I go check it out, and I am happy to offer my help to bring it back to the road. Doesn't seem to need anything crazy, just a full refreshing tuneup. We'll see. It still had the original fuel lines, but a stainless coolant tank, and Herveys stainless with a window airbox. Unknown when or if ever calipers have been rebuilt, but it's got new brake hoses up front, and the LCAs are super clean. Zero frame rust. (Location is Las Vegas, so I would actually have been very surprised to find any rust).
May 81, Vin 1362. Black interior, 5 speed, gas flap hood. Exterior is clean (just filthy, haha) glass is good, interior is pretty worn out. Looks like a car that has been sitting for years, but will clean up nicely.
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I explain to her my offer to help. Labor and brains only, she supplies all parts, and I do it on my free time. She had it towed to my house, and I coordinated a list of tasks and a parts shopping list/order to get it all from Chris Miles.

The purpose of this thread is just to share some pictures and info,

First things first, intake manifold off. The VOD was surprisingly clean. At some point it's been off, but the entire history of every part is unknown.
I replaced the clutch slave, cap and rotor, hot water valve, and remove the water pump. I flooded the valley with water to displace all the old coolant and junk in there, and shop vac it out, and replaced the plugs and plug wires.

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This week coming up, I'm going to replace the fuel filter, flush the clutch fluid, install silicone vacuum lines, install the the water pump, replace the injectors and install the new fuel lines, and reinstall the intake manifold.

Next maintenance on deck after that will be to have the fuel mixture control unit and WUR rebuilt, replace the accumulator, clean out the tank and replace the pump and sender.

Then, some fresh fuel and it should be ready to crank. If indicated, we will replace the clutch master (the slave was done "while I'm in there" out of conveniences sake). I'll see how the brakes behave and repair as required.

Other tuneup parts required:
Air filter (missing)
Belts (ancient)
Engine oil
Gear oil
Steering column bushing (missing)
Struts
Wiper blades
Relays/fuses (all original, will get Dave Mckeens)
Angle drive bracket (missing)
Wheel bearings?
Digital lock controller?

I will post updates in this thread. Any input is welcome.

[jackb]

Since last post I've replaced the fuel filter, flushed the clutch fluid, installed the the water pump, pressure tested the cooling system, replaced the injectors and new boots. I've got the new fuel lines on hand.

The fuel return to tank line was not going *anywhere*, so I was forced to cut the hard line immediately forward of the b-nut. A new compression sleeve and nut is on order from DMC Texas (Chris was unavailable and I've got the week off work, so I procured it from them to avoid delays and make progress while I've got the time). The line was all gunked up at the frequency valve- gross. Hopefully it's still good. I'm pretty confident replacing all the soft lines and components should be sufficient. But I will blow out the hard lines from the filter->accumulator, accumulator->tank, and return line->tank too anyway. I've also got Chris's rebuilt fuel mixture control unit and warmup regulator on hand waiting to be installed (They look amazing).

Once I get the sleeve from DMC, I'll finish installing the fuel lines and reinstall the intake manifold. Then I'll move on to the accumulator and tank. Then I can reinstall the ignition and we'll see what's up.

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[r00b]

I made that a quick connect, much better than those old compression fittings.

[jackb]

Since last post:
I finished replaced the fuel line compression fitting and installed all the fuel lines and new banjo bolts. Installed the intake manifold, fuel mixture unit, and WUR, and throttle. New seals/gaskets/hardware all around. Patched a crack in the airbox, and replaced the filter.

Then earlier this week I replaced the fuel accumulator (green was the one in the car, silver is the new replacement). Also replaced the lines and clamps.

Next I'll be cleaning out the tank and replacing the pump/sender/lines.

For the tank cleaning, I plan on putting some acetone in the tank and swishing around with a (clean) toilet brush to reach everything.

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[Bitsyncmaster]

Since last post:
I finished replaced the fuel line compression fitting and installed all the fuel lines and new banjo bolts. Installed the intake manifold, fuel mixture unit, and WUR, and throttle. New seals/gaskets/hardware all around. Patched a crack in the airbox, and replaced the filter.

Then earlier this week I replaced the fuel accumulator (green was the one in the car, silver is the new replacement). Also replaced the lines and clamps.

Next I'll be cleaning out the tank and replacing the pump/sender/lines.

For the tank cleaning, I plan on putting some acetone in the tank and swishing around with a (clean) toilet brush to reach everything.

717087170971710

Test that toilet brush with acetone. It may melt it.

[jackb]

I removed the old fuel pump and sender, and cleaned out the tank. It was naaaasty. Acetone, a ton of rags, and elbow grease took care of it. New pump and sender (from Chris Miles) installed. I jumped the RPM relay and pressed down on the intake plate to "prime" the fuel lines. Good fuel at the injectors.

Alright ready to fire it up. Click. Click. Click. Nothing. The starter is stuck. No luck trying to nudge/motivate it with a hammer. I jump the starter relay and it tttttttttttttticks for a few, until it frees up. Start it again, vroom, it cranks, turns over, and off. So success! Mostly. I've apparently got good spark, fuel, and air. But I've also got a fuel leak. The fitting where I had to repair the hard line is leaking. I likely did not get a perfectly straight cut before I installed the compression fitting. So I did not attempt to restart it- new compression fitting ordered, as well as some other needed parts. Belts, a/c bearings, oil filter, fuel line repair, and Dave Mckeens solid state relays for the RPM relay, fan relay, and fan fail unit.

Next step is re-repair the fuel line, and get it fired up and idling. Then an oil change, and I can get it moving under its own power (fingers crossed) and test the brakes.

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[jackb]

Replaced the relays w/ Dave Mckeens, and replaced the a/c idler bearings.

[jackb]

*and a/c and alternator belts.

[Chris 16409]

Lots of great work Jack! Glad I was able to be involved in this project. Will be a great car when you're finished with it.

[jackb]

Fuel line repair:
It's good to go now. There was just enough schmutz on the exterior of the hard line that it prevented it from getting a full seal. I filed the edge of the line to make it totally straight 90* relative to the outside of the line (it had a small angle to the cut before) and sanded the outside of the line to make it really clean. New compression fitting and it sealed up well.

Battery:
Replaced under warranty at Oreillys as part of troubleshooting the starter.

Starter:
The starter was intermittent and very weak, and it finally gave up. Not even the cranking- just the solenoid click and nothing else. Battery was new, connections were good, it was just 44 years old. So I got a new one from Chris Miles and installed it (with some anti-seize on the bolts, just for the next guy). Spins like a champ.

Idling:
This is where I am now.

The car will now crank, start and run for about a second or two before dying instead of settling into an idle.
Jumped the RMP relay and the injectors test good.
I do not hear the frequency valve buzzing (that does not mean 100% its not buzzing- my hearing is shit- but I do not hear it buzz).
The delay valve is correctly oriented.
I do not see/feel any loose grounds.
So I did the plug swap between the WUR and CSV, and it will idle. I only let it go for a few seconds (~5?), but it stayed running. I cut it off with the key. Need to check how it functions when disconnecting the plug while running (when I have a helper). It's definitely a fuel delivery issue though.

In hindsight, I connected the original CSV plug to the WUR as well (didn't leave it blank), so I'm not sure what kind of effect that has on the plug swap test. And I thought I checked the TTS before I installed the water pump and it was good, but I will double check that next week.

[David T]

Fuel line repair:
It's good to go now. There was just enough schmutz on the exterior of the hard line that it prevented it from getting a full seal. I filed the edge of the line to make it totally straight 90* relative to the outside of the line (it had a small angle to the cut before) and sanded the outside of the line to make it really clean. New compression fitting and it sealed up well.

Battery:
Replaced under warranty at Oreillys as part of troubleshooting the starter.

Starter:
The starter was intermittent and very weak, and it finally gave up. Not even the cranking- just the solenoid click and nothing else. Battery was new, connections were good, it was just 44 years old. So I got a new one from Chris Miles and installed it (with some anti-seize on the bolts, just for the next guy). Spins like a champ.

Idling:
This is where I am now.

The car will now crank, start and run for about a second or two before dying instead of settling into an idle.
Jumped the RMP relay and the injectors test good.
I do not hear the frequency valve buzzing (that does not mean 100% its not buzzing- my hearing is shit- but I do not hear it buzz).
The delay valve is correctly oriented.
I do not see/feel any loose grounds.
So I did the plug swap between the WUR and CSV, and it will idle. I only let it go for a few seconds (~5?), but it stayed running. I cut it off with the key. Need to check how it functions when disconnecting the plug while running (when I have a helper). It's definitely a fuel delivery issue though.

In hindsight, I connected the original CSV plug to the WUR as well (didn't leave it blank), so I'm not sure what kind of effect that has on the plug swap test. And I thought I checked the TTS before I installed the water pump and it was good, but I will double check that next week.

If it starts, runs and then quickly stops, it is getting fuel only from the Cold Start Valve (CSV). Check the rough mixture adjustment or try holding the air sensor plate down just a little to get the injectors to squirt. The motor should still run a little without the frequency valve buzzing but it will run lean.

[jackb]

Long story short, got it idling.

Long story:
First, adjusted the fuel mixture while engine was off- pulled an injector, jumped the relay, adjusted the mix to juuust where the injector stops flowing any fuel without touching the plate. I suspect it was too far out of wack and initially I was trying to adjust it blindly, with no idea if I was going in the correct direction or what. So we got that close, then adjusted the idle speed. Started around 2,000rpm, got it down to ~900. It *sounds* lower than 900, but set it lower and the engine wants to die. Dwell meter was indicating nothing (confirmed meter was good by putting it on my own Delorean). So a new O2 sensor is on the list of next parts. Will verify correct dwell and check idle after that?s changed.

Forward gears engage with very little clunk. Reverse will not engage- it will grind, so I don?t force it.

No fuel leaks.

Multiple coolant leaks, both from the hoses joining the hard coolant lines, and up front by the radiator. Need to replace all the remaining hoses and radiator. Also, one of the cooling fans is dead.

Lots of thanks to Chris Miles for talking through the mixture/idle setup.

Making progress. More parts on the way.
Big tasks remaining:
Idle
Coolant system- hoses, fan, and radiator
Brakes
Engine oil and gear oil
Shifting (Linkage? Engine speed? Clutch?)

[Timeless]

Long story short, got it idling.
Multiple coolant leaks, both from the hoses joining the hard coolant lines, and up front by the radiator. Need to replace all the remaining hoses and radiator. Also, one of the cooling fans is dead.
If you want a set of OE fans I have a pair available.

[Rich]

Shifting (Linkage? Engine speed? Clutch?)

Advice on only this topic.

It's unlikely to be a linkage problem as far as your reverse engagement issue.

If the gears grind with engine idling then you know your linkage is OK - if the shifter wasn't able to align into the R gate then the gears couldn't come together at all.

Here are two tests you can consider. Best to run these tests AFTER you verify the transmission has a full load of the correct gear oil in it.

Test 1 - Try to engage reverse with engine off with or without using the clutch. You may need to rock the car back and forth. This test makes it easier on the transmission vs all that gear grinding and it takes the clutch out of the equation. If it won't engage reverse with engine off then you really may have a linkage issue to sort out (and no need for Test 2 until you pass Test 1)

Test 2 - Test clutch disengagement at rest. If you can get the shifter into the R position all the way with engine off then then leave it in R and try starting the engine with clutch pedal fully down and with the brakes on (so the car can't move). Look for a clutch issue by verifying the engine cranks and starts normally in this condition. If it does then leave the shifter in R with engine running and clutch pedal still on the floor, then slowly release the brake pedal. The car shouldn't move, meaning the clutch disengagement is really OK. If the car moves then the clutch isn't fully disengaging as it should.

Will hold off on reasons for incorrect clutch disengagement until you pass or fail Test 2.

[jackb]

Latest updates:

1362 is almost ready for a drive.

After replacing the O2 sensor and adjusting the idle again, I was able to get it in gear to move forward and reverse up and down ramps in the driveway. The dwell meter was borrowed, and had been returned during the interim, so it still remains to be totally dialed in once I get it again.

Received a new radiator, fans, and rubber coolant lines from Chris Miles.

Another local Delorean owner I am very good friends with is in need to sell his Delorean (a terrible shame- it?s in incredible/damn near flawless condition) and is now going to buy 1362 as a ?downgrade? project Delorean instead.
His Delorean had a DMC Stage 2 exhaust, with no cats (so not possible to sell to a CA buyer, or any other emissions testing state) so we removed 1362?s entire factory exhaust and installed it on his now for sale cat. 1362 will get the Stage 2 installed on it.

I will also post a separate thread with a link to the Delorean for sale. He does not have access to DMCTalk. All Las Vegas and many CA/AZ owners (and DMC CA and DMC FL) have seen his car and can validate its condition.

https://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?20459-81-automatic-grey-interior&p=285612#post285612

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1115563714973490/?mibextid=6ojiHh

[jackb]

The change of ownership for 1362 is complete- it is now my friends Delorean.

I put new motor mounts on it today, and a digital ECU from Dave Mckeen is on the way.
Also got a few miscellaneous parts- a dead pedal, a new shifter noise isolator, and new TAB?s and bushings (not yet installed).

We are awaiting to do the radiator because it?s going to get all new coolant line rubber, and probably a new a/c system. The radiator/coolant is on hold until the a/c is done. And that and the exhaust install is waiting until it cools down a bit from 110?.