What have you done to your DeLorean today?

[DMC5180]

Is that to correct the direction of the blower motor? I just made a temporary version of that myself, just to get to the DMC Mid West open house and back. I'll do a proper one when I get back. Makes a huge difference for volume of airflow!!

Make sure your Wipers are Working for the trip.

[Ryan S.]

Homelink remote installed

19845
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5484/9045870013_c987ff1eaf_z.jpg
Carbon cup holder

19844
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3833/9045867983_2477e9053e_z.jpg

[jawn101]

Homelink remote installed

19845
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5484/9045870013_c987ff1eaf_z.jpg
Carbon cup holder

19844
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3833/9045867983_2477e9053e_z.jpg

Where'd you find the cup holder, Ryan? Looks like a decent option.

[Ryan S.]

It gets the job done and cost me less than $5. I'll show you today.

[DavidProehl]

Looks great Ryan! Your HomeLink buttons blend in very well, had to spend a while just trying to find them in the picture.

[Farrar]

Opened it up looking for some zip-ties which I needed to route wires in my other car.

Keeping the car under a cover is a good deterrent from storing tools and parts in it. I have to uncover it just to find out that I didn't put something there, after all. Ten minutes later, I'm back where I started, but sweating a lot more. :lol:

[MML]

Went to a show today, in Rostrevor, about an hour's drive from Belfast. We had 5 D's in total, with one of the other guys in a very nice Porsche.
I'm absolutely shattered after a six hour round trip. It was the first time I've ever seen more than two in one place, but the big thrill was cruising down the motorway with 5 D's in a line :)

http://i.imgur.com/P0H4zqS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lY09J0u.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Xg0DiIr.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/wXaklS5.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bcp9MDs.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/L5UDviV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/oVrcrZl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aupUOd5.jpg

[MML]

Bonus pics - a couple of nice Esprits.

http://i.imgur.com/dl5ddM8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lZKHXRd.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/GAkNxOc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5TrzCLW.jpg

[Kenny_Z]

Very cool MML. It's fun putting them side by side and comparing all the little differences isn't it?

[pezzonovante88]

I cleaned the valve covers using Gunk. I didn't think it would work that well, but it totally removed all the 30 year old grease and grime and has restored the valve covers' color from a putrid brown to a bare/raw silver-grey.
(tip: when using Gunk, avoid spraying it on all plastics, as it can result in some discoloration - I covered off all the other engine bay areas and pontoons with garbage bags so as to avoid causing a mess.)
Next week is our ODOC tech day, so I hope to get the car on the lift and get a chance to detail the underside of the car.

[jawn101]

Bonus pics - a couple of nice Esprits.

http://i.imgur.com/dl5ddM8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lZKHXRd.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/GAkNxOc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5TrzCLW.jpg

Whew! Love those Esprits!! The D's aren't bad either, I suppose :)

[Tillsy]

My rear suspension settled a little more over the past couple of weeks, so have raised it another 11mm to return her to my ideal pose.

Also dialled up the shocks another four settings, from position 7 to 11. Have now gone from being a little too soft to a teensy too hard, so currently thinking position 9 or 10 will be my ideal setting.

[OverlandMan]

I rebuilt the front brake calipers, changed out the flexible hoses, and put on new pads. After some fathers day stuff, I'll tackle the rears later this afternoon.

[MML]

Very cool MML. It's fun putting them side by side and comparing all the little differences isn't it?

I know what you mean, the big thing I noticed was all three hood types among five cars!

[Farrar]

Today was a day of effort for nothing.

First, I attached one of the Molex connectors to one of the power window leads, only to find that not all Molex connectors are compatible. I'll have to go and buy a matched set from the same store.

I decided instead to think about the air conditioning system. The engine needs to be running in order for me to re-charge the system, and that means a new fuel pump. I removed the dead fuel pump and looked for new places to mount its replacement. The best place is not doable, because I would have to put the nut for a bracket right behind the evaporator box. I don't want to put the new fuel pump back in Bill's carrier, because it leaks, and these fuel pumps are not meant for immersion in fuel -- they're sealed with something that turns into a sticky, grainy mess when exposed to gasoline. Nor do I want to mount it all the way back in the engine compartment, since the further the pump is from the tank the greater the chance of the pump sucking air when I first start the engine. There's a further complication in that, regardless of where the new pump is mounted, I have to install a hose barb down inside that carrier. I'm not sure if they make sockets deep enough to accomodate a hose barb, but I guess I can always go to the hardware store and try.

Having stalled in two directions so far, I decided to see what was going on with the courtesy light circuit. Dave M's module seems to be working, but something is screwy with my car's wiring. He suggested pulling the module and putting a jumper in to make the lights come on. The only thing I can do with a jumper is blow the fuse.

Then I decided to remove the rear trim panels and see anout tightening their fitment with some contact cement, washers, and neodymium magnets. After spending twenty minutes looking for the appropriate screwdriver, I decided to just go ahead and call it suppertime.

The only good thing about this is that I was able to do the work whole a rainstorm passed overhead. I'm very glad I opted for the garage when we moved into this apartment.

[DeLorean03]

Lots of little stuff today:

1. Installed new engine cover stops with new M5 hexnuts.

2. Install new SS engine cover striker latch new M4 hexnuts

3. Installed the DMC circular AC vent plugs so all the air from the doors is re-directed to the center vents.

4. Installed new windshield wiper nut caps.

5. Re-installed my new fuel pump/sender combo after having it serviced by Mike of DMCMW and Stephen Wynne. It was a faulty check valve. Stephen showed me how the whole thing works, and he really was very articulate with his explanation of each part of the pump. Very welcoming to see how involved he is with these new products!

6. Measured all of my fuel pressures and saw my fuel system now holds 32 PSI after 1 hour. With the bad check valve, I was down to sub-20 in nearly 10 minutes.

7. Installed a new plastic coverplate with the SS engine cover striker.

8. Installed a new hollow bolt for the warm up regulator (the line that goes form the WUR to the top of the fuel distributor).

Down the road:

Re-installing my trunk lock after being without it for going on 4 years now (accidentally almost locked myself out). Have new trunk stoppers and mounting hardware ready to go.

Going to tighten down my trunk cable so when you pull the handle, it actually works -____- ....

Install new M4 bolts and caps into the rear screen upper finisher.

Finally replace my broken RH parking brake cable.

Install my new rock screen. I know there was a lot of questioning if these were still available earlier in the year. I got a nice new black powdercoated one at DMCMW's open house - so it looks like they're available again!

Install the shock tower bar. Link to one here; I purchased DMCMW's unit: http://www.dmoco.com/Strut_Page.html.

Finally, complement the shock tower bar with these bad boys from DMCEU. I have nothing but EXCELLENT things regarding these: http://www.delorean.eu/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=20_143&products_id=95065&osCsid=d6537d783ae2d259dfb796881305782f.

Installing the engine cover SS grilles. They look FANTASTIC once installed. Adds a lot of weight to your lower engine cover ._.

And lastly, finally installing a modern spring/shock kit and taking my car from the 4x4 look to that more aggressive and sleek look that some of you are enjoying!!!

Man, I swear I feel like this, especially for the LCA braces and the shock/springs:

19869

[EdR5150]

Finished replacing my steering column bushing, and replacing my broken, incomplete steering column:

http://www.16908.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130614_214540-300x225.jpg

http://www.16908.info/?p=2310 (http://www.16908.info/?p=2310)

[dustybarn]

This weekend:

Cleaned an enormous mouse nest out of the HVAC system. The little guys must have built it pretty quickly, because it wasn't there 2 weeks ago. My cheap Harbor Fright flexible inspection camera came in handy.

And then blew a tire on the interstate and had to be towed back home. I think I must have hit a piece of debris; it was in a construction zone and there was a big gash in the tire sidewall. Oh, well, I was planning on replacing the tires this summer anyway.

[Jonathan]

Went down to the local cruise night, but timed it just as it was finishing. That was mostly just to get down there and see how a couple sunset/beach photos might turn out. I'll definitely go back down there and see about getting the image just right (and likely on a non-cruise night evening with less cars and people). I like the idea of the sun setting between the doors. Often there are just the right number of clouds and then the whole sky turns this brilliant red and orange. It is quite amazing.

These are a couple of the ones I took initially. They were on my iPhone as I didn't have my regular cameras with me at the time. I have a Canon DSLR (XS model I think it is) and now seems like a good time to finally figure out how to use some of the extra settings on it!

1987919878

[Dangermouse]

Happy Father’s Day? More like Happy Fail-thers Day! The day promised so much and delivered so little.

Item 1 – changed air filter and O-ring - must have been longer than I thought since I did this before ;(.
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=19890&d=1371488358

Item 2 – tried to find the source of my vacuum leak whistle, but of course engine idled quietly. No whistles (But this morning, whistling like a train. FFS)
Item 3 – as a test, I changed out one of my injectors rubber bungs and clips as it seemed loose. New set was exactly the same, so originals OK
Item 4 – changed transmission fluid
Item 5 – went to grease balljoints and have mislaid flexible fitting. FFS #2
Item 6 – finally got rid of the world’s worst eyebrows. Sort of. Turns out that I grabbed the 1” wide aluminum strip from Lowes rather than the ¾”, not realizing how critical that ¼” is to the job. (The adjustment brackets for the lamps interfere with the bar). FFS #3
Item 7 – install new Silverstar brights that I bought at least 3 years ago. One of my existing brights is blind, so I bought a pair of silverstars to install at the same time as the de-eyebrowing. Turns out I bought the wrong ones (wrong connector). Now need new inners and outers as well as I noticed that the silvering was worn off them. Anyone want a set of new Silverstars for a 1980s Dodge/Ford/GM F@#$knows? FFS #4

Add to the fact that the headlamp brackets are rusty and need refinishing and I dropped all the tiny screws into the fascia, means that these two jobs are a total redo. Anyway, here is a partial before and after. The driver’s side if OK, but the passenger side is still catching on the bar. And my headlamp alignment is shot, to make matters worse.
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=19891&d=1371488358

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=19892&d=1371488359


Item 8 – gave the old girl a good wash – at least one successful and rewarding task.

[Farrar]

Discovered this yesterday... No idea why it's there. Doesn't look like it's ever been used for anything.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/3873d8631108c4b76a7eabe75981d39c/tumblr_mojsb3Z1j91stq9e4o1_1280.jpg

[jawn101]

Happy Father’s Day? More like Happy Fail-thers Day! The day promised so much and delivered so little.

Item 1 – changed air filter and O-ring - must have been longer than I thought since I did this before ;(.
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=19890&d=1371488358

Item 2 – tried to find the source of my vacuum leak whistle, but of course engine idled quietly. No whistles (But this morning, whistling like a train. FFS)
Item 3 – as a test, I changed out one of my injectors rubber bungs and clips as it seemed loose. New set was exactly the same, so originals OK
Item 4 – changed transmission fluid
Item 5 – went to grease balljoints and have mislaid flexible fitting. FFS #2
Item 6 – finally got rid of the world’s worst eyebrows. Sort of. Turns out that I grabbed the 1” wide aluminum strip from Lowes rather than the ¾”, not realizing how critical that ¼” is to the job. (The adjustment brackets for the lamps interfere with the bar). FFS #3
Item 7 – install new Silverstar brights that I bought at least 3 years ago. One of my existing brights is blind, so I bought a pair of silverstars to install at the same time as the de-eyebrowing. Turns out I bought the wrong ones (wrong connector). Now need new inners and outers as well as I noticed that the silvering was worn off them. Anyone want a set of new Silverstars for a 1980s Dodge/Ford/GM F@#$knows? FFS #4

Add to the fact that the headlamp brackets are rusty and need refinishing and I dropped all the tiny screws into the fascia, means that these two jobs are a total redo. Anyway, here is a partial before and after. The driver’s side if OK, but the passenger side is still catching on the bar. And my headlamp alignment is shot, to make matters worse.
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=19891&d=1371488358

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=19892&d=1371488359


Item 8 – gave the old girl a good wash – at least one successful and rewarding task.

Dermot, at times like these I think you should really refer to and take solace in Section S of the workshop manual.... http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?2199-Secret-Section-S-of-the-Workshop-Manual

:)

Edit: OOPS! That isn't the section I meant at all!!! But it's still a good one...

Anyone know where the "Getting Pissed" section lives? I can't find it anymore :lol:

[DeLorean03]

I've learned the hard way - sometimes - you got to just walk away and cool off. It sucks to do, but sometimes you save so much more upcoming trouble for yourself.

[Farrar]

I've learned the hard way - sometimes - you got to just walk away and cool off. It sucks to do, but sometimes you save so much more upcoming trouble for yourself.

This is true. You're more likely to break something if you're frustrated or in a hurry. And DeLoreans have lots of bits that love to break. I'd rather lose some time with the car than do something I'll regret later.

[Chris Burns]

Happy Father’s Day? More like Happy Fail-thers Day! The day promised so much and delivered so little.

Item 1 – changed air filter and O-ring - must have been longer than I thought since I did this before ;(.
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=19890&d=1371488358

Item 2 – tried to find the source of my vacuum leak whistle, but of course engine idled quietly. No whistles (But this morning, whistling like a train. FFS)
Item 3 – as a test, I changed out one of my injectors rubber bungs and clips as it seemed loose. New set was exactly the same, so originals OK
Item 4 – changed transmission fluid
Item 5 – went to grease balljoints and have mislaid flexible fitting. FFS #2
Item 6 – finally got rid of the world’s worst eyebrows. Sort of. Turns out that I grabbed the 1” wide aluminum strip from Lowes rather than the ¾”, not realizing how critical that ¼” is to the job. (The adjustment brackets for the lamps interfere with the bar). FFS #3
Item 7 – install new Silverstar brights that I bought at least 3 years ago. One of my existing brights is blind, so I bought a pair of silverstars to install at the same time as the de-eyebrowing. Turns out I bought the wrong ones (wrong connector). Now need new inners and outers as well as I noticed that the silvering was worn off them. Anyone want a set of new Silverstars for a 1980s Dodge/Ford/GM F@#$knows? FFS #4

Add to the fact that the headlamp brackets are rusty and need refinishing and I dropped all the tiny screws into the fascia, means that these two jobs are a total redo. Anyway, here is a partial before and after. The driver’s side if OK, but the passenger side is still catching on the bar. And my headlamp alignment is shot, to make matters worse.
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=19891&d=1371488358

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=19892&d=1371488359


Item 8 – gave the old girl a good wash – at least one successful and rewarding task.


Ah, the mysterious 2743!

[Dangermouse]

Ah, the mysterious 2743!

The mysterious permanently surprised 2743. :)

[Farrar]

Somebody screwed up my courtesy light circuit pretty badly. The trunk light is somehow tied to the door and interior light circuit: when I pull the module, the trunk light turns off.

The module (Dave M's) only works for a few minutes anyway before shutting everything off, and at that point I have to pull the module and install it again. I can't just disconnect the battery; the module has to be pulled and reinstalled in order for the lights to come on.

For ten minutes.

Then they shut off again.

Dave told me I should be able to bypass the module with a jumper. When I do that, the fuse pops.

This is like some weird kind of torture. I have the urge to remove the socket for the module and put the entire interior light circuit on a switch, then run a fresh +12v line to the front of the car for the trunk light. In my opinion, that's a lot of effort for a not-as-good-as-stock result, but I'm at my wit's end now.

And no, I don't expect any help here. If I can somehow document the insanity, I'll start a new "keep Farrar sane" thread.

[Mike F]

Somebody screwed up my courtesy light circuit pretty badly. The trunk light is somehow tied to the door and interior light circuit: when I pull the module, the trunk light turns off.

The module (Dave M's) only works for a few minutes anyway before shutting everything off, and at that point I have to pull the module and install it again. I can't just disconnect the battery; the module has to be pulled and reinstalled in order for the lights to come on.

For ten minutes.

Then they shut off again.

Dave told me I should be able to bypass the module with a jumper. When I do that, the fuse pops.

This is like some weird kind of torture. I have the urge to remove the socket for the module and put the entire interior light circuit on a switch, then run a fresh +12v line to the front of the car for the trunk light. In my opinion, that's a lot of effort for a not-as-good-as-stock result, but I'm at my wit's end now.

And no, I don't expect any help here. If I can somehow document the insanity, I'll start a new "keep Farrar sane" thread.

I know exactly what you're going through. I've dealt with cars in the past where I could only imagine what I would do to the person who last touched the wiring. I couldn't help but laugh when I read your post, though! I know it's not anywhere near this but the way you describe it, it just makes me imagine some wiring nightmare where you go to put the window down and it honks the horn, or you flip on the defroster and the doors lock, followed by a barrage of foul language...

In all seriousness, though, I hope you get it figured out; I'm sure you will. Definitely post what you find out!

[John U]

Took her and her younger sister out for a drive!
Two very different cars, but both bring a smile to your face for different reasons

[pezzonovante88]

Took her and her younger sister out for a drive!
Two very different cars, but both bring a smile to your face for different reasons

Nice! Is that a GTS?

[Kenny_Z]

After soaking the water pump rear plate bolts for a couple of days I attempted to remove them. Four of them came out within a few seconds of pulling the trigger on my impact. The fifth (which was the second bolt I attempted) stripped. I inspected the four I removed and decided that all of them were going to be replaced. I ground off the fifth bolt expecting it just to come off with a few taps. No such luck, it wasn't the threads that were fused. It was fused to the backing plate's threadless space. I had to drill it out. Thankfully it came off undamaged. It's just waiting for me to install it in the car tomorrow.

[NightFlyer]

Nice! Is that a GTS?

I believe it's a 928, but I could be wrong. Nice Porsche regardless (in addition to the D of course) :thumbup:

[John U]

Nice! Is that a GTS?

I wish! The GTS commands quite a price for it's rarity....mine is an '87 S4

[pezzonovante88]

I wish! The GTS commands quite a price for it's rarity....mine is an '87 S4

Still, that's a pretty late model 928, no? I've always had a thing for those cars. From what I've heard, they're really just great all-round cars (though expensive as hell to maintain/repair). Anyway, nice little collection you've got there, John.

[John U]

Still, that's a pretty late model 928, no? I've always had a thing for those cars. From what I've heard, they're really just great all-round cars (though expensive as hell to maintain/repair). Anyway, nice little collection you've got there, John.

1987 is the first year for the fourth generation 928
after driving a 911 from the same era, I would have to say the 928 is a far superior car, and I love that V8 sound!!!
and yes, the price of parts is pretty crazy!

[ILM1010]

Almost bought a 928, it was a fun car to test out, the looks of it are cool to me, but then i went for a ride in a late 70s turbo charged 911 and I have never experienced that kind of speed except for riding in a Nissan GTR.

needless to say, the Delorean eats up enough of my money, i had a 240z as well but sold it.

[pezzonovante88]

I went underneath my car and gave the underside a good cleanup and wax. Looks pretty much mint now. The transmission is still a little dirty, but whatever.

[DeLorean03]

Installed new trunk stoppers and calibrated them so they both actually stop the trunk lid.

Installed the windshield washer nozzle.

On Friday night, did this (middle car):

20033

20034

Helped a local owner named Jason change his hoses on his fuel accumulator. We used WPAFB's Auto Hobby Center for this:

20035

His new hoses:

20036

New versus old:

20037

Jason returned the favor by Quaker Steak lunch and helped me install this:

20038

SUPER simple to install. Let the two bolts (frame bolts I believe) soak in penetrant spray for almost 6-7 hours, and they came out with zero problems.

Finally, I re-installed my trunk latch and lock. Back in 2009, I was trying to get my trunk lid to "pop" like I saw on other owner's cars. I boo boo'd and my trunk handle lost all grip on the trunk cable, and I freaked out (had only a 1/4 tank at the time and couldn't get to Casey's for help). Once I realized all I had to do was lock down a set of vice-grips on my cable and pull hard and I could get my trunk open, I uninstalled the latch and lock system from Summer 2009 to today. Used new M6 split washers and (4) M6 x 20mm bolts, as well as changed out the old spring with a nice, new fresh spring. Now my trunk lid locks, and it actually "pops" like I wanted it to 4 years ago! Guess it just needed a new spring ;).

I have Toby's remote trunk release system an ex bought me in 2007. Guess I'll install that later this year and utilize WingsALoft's Door Launcher key fob. Should be awesome !

Oh, and I ordered these today (: ...

20068

[Tillsy]

Spent the entire evening adjusting the door latch rods in both doors.

This was one of those situations where things work fine but I could "feel" both the inside and outside handles were not as "easy" as it should be. Hard to describe but the handles were a tougher pull than they should, and my Wings-A-Loft install I did last year I never use the door launching yet as that was inconsistent for what I felt was the same reason.

Sure enough I found all the rods under incredible tension, I was quite shocked at how insanely tight they were. A whole night of experimentation later and not only do both the inside and outside handles operate beautifully, but my Wings-A-Loft door launching now works rock solid. Can't wait to start using them :)

This combined was a very sick daughter left me no time for reassembly, but there's some other loose ends I want to get done in my doors while they are apart so will finish up tomorrow night.

[Nicholas R]

Didn't do anything to it, but I did do this with it :biggrin:

[NightFlyer]

Didn't do anything to it, but I did do this with it :biggrin:

Do you have a limited slip installed on the transaxle?

[DMC5180]

Didn't do anything to it, but I did do this with it :biggrin:

What NO FLAMES!

[Nicholas R]

Do you have a limited slip installed on the transaxle?

Nope it's still open; but the road was dry so traction was uniform. An LSD is an upgrade I'm looking at though. There's an order to the upgrades, it's just not at the top of the list yet :)

[Farrar]

Today, I decided to give myself some more room in the electrical compartment by removing unused K-Jet wires.

I got a big surprise.

There was a large brown/orange wire connected to nothing. I decided to trace it and ended up at Fuse #7.

Fuse #7 on my car connects to nothing.

So I wonder what has been powering my fuel pump all these years.

I decided to trace out some other wires and ended up tearing apart most of the 32-year-old harness wrap. I plan to replace it with wire loom. In the meantime, I think I've just guaranteed that the car won't see the road before autumn. :banghead:

[refugeefromcalif]

I had to replace the PS low beam headlight.

NEVER, get caught behind a gravel truck in the middle of a thunderstorm Down pour!
I'd rather lose a headlight then a windshield.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20091&d=1372025755
(I've got to start work on 6599's Eyebrow)... :wrenchin:


http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20092&d=1372025846

I'm Glad I still have the stock fascia to access the screws on the retainer ring.
(Although I did manage to lose one screw on each headlight). :eek7:

George

[Roman Legion]

I had to replace the PS low beam headlight.

NEVER, get caught behind a gravel truck in the middle of a thunderstorm Down pour!
I'd rather lose a headlight then a windshield.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20091&d=1372025755
(I've got to start work on 6599's Eyebrow)... :wrenchin:


http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20092&d=1372025846

I'm Glad I still have the stock fascia to access the screws on the retainer ring.
(Although I did manage to lose one screw on each headlight). :eek7:

George

Ouch! I hope thats all the gravel managed to hit.

[jawn101]

Drove it out to Napa for the day. Hit some NASCAR traffic that kinda made the drive less fun, but a nice time just the same.

[Farrar]

After removing some unused wires, e.g. to the rear defogger and frequency valve, I decided to see about wrapping some of what was left with split loom.

I encountered what I have decided to call Northern Ireland's Revenge: some of the wires twisted around inside the harness, and others thrown on the side as if someone had said "Wait! What about these ones here? They need to go on, too!" just at the last minute.

In the end, I decided to simply leave everything as it is and only put wires in danger of being damaged by their surroundings into loom -- i.e., the two that run down the center console.

After tidying up the garage and covering the car, I came back inside the apartment to realize that my lovely fiancé knew I was frustrated with the car and had baked cookies and poured me a glass of lemonade to greet me.

Life is good.

[Jonathan]

After tidying up the garage and covering the car, I came back inside the apartment to realize that my lovely fiancé knew I was frustrated with the car and had baked cookies and poured me a glass of lemonade to greet me.

Life is good.

Lots of different definitions of "living the dream" out there... but that one sounds pretty good to me :)

[Farrar]

Lots of different definitions of "living the dream" out there... but that one sounds pretty good to me :)

No joke, man... Just about every day I'm reminded of how fortunate I am.

[Jonathan]

No joke, man... Just about every day I'm reminded of how fortunate I am.

Great to hear, Farrar. Anyone that manages to figure that out, has figured out how to be happy in life. Beauty :)

(...and for any of us out there in pursuit, I recently read a great book called "The Myths of Happiness" by Sonja Lyubomirsky. It really has some fantastic ways to remind us about perspective if you have the chance to flip through a copy).

[krs09]

Doing some major interior wiring checking and getting ready to install a newish radio. Removed a lot of aftermarket wires and a cruise control system. I hate the PO mechanic. 201042010520106

[Jonathan]

Doing some major interior wiring checking and getting ready to install a newish radio. Removed a lot of aftermarket wires and a cruise control system. I hate the PO mechanic. 201042010520106

Nice. Lots of work, but fun to hear your favorite song come through once it is all back together. Feel free to ask any questions if something isn't going back together quite as you thought... my car looked just like this 1-2 months ago :)

[krs09]

Nice. Lots of work, but fun to hear your favorite song come through once it is all back together. Feel free to ask any questions if something isn't going back together quite as you thought... my car looked just like this 1-2 months ago :)

Thanks, Im sure ill need some tips. Another good note: My Heat/Ac switch didn't work at all and found the ground wire laying disconnected behind the radio stack. That cant help.:wrenchin:

[WelmoedJ]

Today, I decided to give myself some more room in the electrical compartment by removing unused K-Jet wires.

I got a big surprise.

There was a large brown/orange wire connected to nothing. I decided to trace it and ended up at Fuse #7.

Fuse #7 on my car connects to nothing.

So I wonder what has been powering my fuel pump all these years.

I decided to trace out some other wires and ended up tearing apart most of the 32-year-old harness wrap. I plan to replace it with wire loom. In the meantime, I think I've just guaranteed that the car won't see the road before autumn. :banghead:

You certainly must have an experimental car (factory as well as "after-market") :).
On 'standard ' cars fuse #7 has brown wires at both sides.
On 'standard' cars the fuel pump has a white/purply power feed wire.

I think you may be right in stripping the engine bay wire loom of its unused wires and re-doing the insulation.
If you didn't yet have split the wiring for the starter motor and alternator into a new loom at the right hand side of the engine, consider doing it.

Good luck,

[Tillsy]

Hate occasionally hearing the wiring harness move inside the doors when lifting/lowering, so zip tied a lot of them to various points plus installed some padding where one of the plugs hangs. Nice and quiet now :)

Also took the opportunity to eliminate the silly square plug in round socket design of the new DMCH window regulators I installed last year.

Reassembled the doors and then decided I might as well finally install the new struts I've had sitting on my shelf this past year.

Enjoyed triggering my door launchers a few times for the first time since I installed them last year, decided I couldn't be assed putting all my tools away, and called it a night :)

[Farrar]

On 'standard ' cars fuse #7 has brown wires at both sides.

In my car, there was a thin (30-strand?) brown wire from the fuse #7, but after just two inches it had been spliced onto a thicker (44-strand) brown/orange wire.


I think you may be right in stripping the engine bay wire loom of its unused wires and re-doing the insulation.
If you didn't yet have split the wiring for the starter motor and alternator into a new loom at the right hand side of the engine, consider doing it.

Not only that, I think I will simply make new harnesses from new materials. Fresh wire, fresh connectors, and fresh insulation would buy me some peace of mind.

Thanks for the good luck wish! I will need it!

[Kenny_Z]

Thanks to a couple of threads on here I found and fixed an issue with my temp gauge. I accidentally grounded it so it was pointing straight up. Once I had that I was much more comfortable running the engine for more than a couple of minutes. I ran it up to operating temperature while watching for any coolant or oil leaks. So far so good. I'll probably start the body reassembly soon. I'm thinking of tossing the fascias on in their current state just so I can enjoy my car for a little while. I miss her and I really want to see if I can feel the engine improvements.

[krs09]

What a PITA! During my radio/interior clean out I figured it was as good a time as any to tackle my roof box and bolt it down as I can see it pulling away from the body. The shop book makes it sound very easy to remove the T panel, well not for me. There was so much black adhesive under there that it was holding on and did NOT wanna let go. I had to slowly and carefully peel the panel away without destroying it. After about an hr it finally came loose:woot:. Checking in the roof box I did find a fair bit of rust and used a magnet to pull it all out. What a nightmare, has anyone else seen this much adhesive? O and another thing, I thought I was going to have to glue down the black trim piece at the top of the windshield cus it was sticking up like it would fly away if I picked up enough speed. Turns out the PO installed it wrong and did not slip the clips into the metal bracket (along the very top of the windshield)... whew.. One thing that will be easy when this mess goes back together. A lot of sweaty work today. Time to grab a smoke:smoke1:


2016520166201672016820169

[Farrar]

After adding some lights to the garage to make it easier to work on the car without its interior lighting available, I started putting the electrical compartment behind the passenger seat back together. The bracket is back in, rusty as it is. In lieu of a new rivnut to replace the one that pulled out with the bracket, a black POM rivet was used. The other rivnut is in place with a new stainless screw in it.

Due to the reordering of the relays, I had to swap out a ground wire for a longer one. The same will have to be done with one of the cooling fan relays' "hot" wires from the circuit breaker. I'm down to one socket-specific spade terminal, so I'd better not screw it up...

Considering how slow my progress has been, I'm pleased at how things are coming back together there, or coming together back there. with the Fourth plus a furlough day this week, I hope to make some more progress before Friday.

[vwdmc16]

Finally finished recovering my forward headliner, Need to rivet in new sunvisor mounts in the roof before installing though. Its been nearly a year since ive had headliners, should be nice to have them back.

[Dangermouse]

Glad that week is over! I am convinced my car came with a 39900 mile warranty, because everything went to sh*t after that rolled around.

Started with a failed diode in the cooling fan circuit that left me stranded.

Got that fixed and went to the movies, where I got my rear passenger quarter panel badly scratched or maybe keyed.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20217&d=1372713319

Finally got my tires changed out. Only 4000 miles on the fronts and this is what they looked like, bottoms flat on the floor. Not sure of the alignment was off or not. :ehh:

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20214&d=1372713266

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20215&d=1372713288

Badly, badly toed in, but tracked true down the road. Ordered a pair of Toyo Extensa A/S for the fronts putting off the rears for a little while. But when I got to the tire shop, they had a 1-day Atlanta Braves special of $144 off a set of 4. The only brand they had in-stock were the Mastercraft Avengers (a.k.a. Coppers), but as it was essentially BOGO on the rears I went for it. I have no issues with non-matching patterns front and back. (The tire store also called me to tell me I need new front pads, but apologetically then told me they couldn’t find them anywhere. I had forgotten I had a set in my toolbag, which I had just taken out of the car that morning to reduce “temptation”. Damn. Would have been the perfect time to fit them obviously)

So, in reference to one of the other threads, I now have Made in Japan Toyos on the front with a 0413 date code, and Made in Mexico Mastercrafts (aka Coopers) with a 2012 date code, on the rear (the old rears had 2000 and 2003 date code, so they were well due to be changed). These tires will age out before they wear out, I suspect (and yes, I got an alignment also). The one good point of the week was how quiet and soft new rubber is.

Week was looking up at last.

Until my auto-box GC failed on the way home from the tire store. Spent the weekend chasing shadows, mostly self inflicted. Damn and Blast.

As I pulled into my driveway, coming back from the tire store, it stopped like this:

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20216&d=1372713302

[Chris Burns]

Glad that week is over! I am convinced my car came with a 39900 mile warranty, because everything went to sh*t after that rolled around.

Started with a failed diode in the cooling fan circuit that left me stranded.

Got that fixed and went to the movies, where I got my rear passenger quarter panel badly scratched or maybe keyed.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20217&d=1372713319

Finally got my tires changed out. Only 4000 miles on the fronts and this is what they looked like, bottoms flat on the floor. Not sure of the alignment was off or not. :ehh:

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20214&d=1372713266

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20215&d=1372713288

Badly, badly toed in, but tracked true down the road. Ordered a pair of Toyo Extensa A/S for the fronts putting off the rears for a little while. But when I got to the tire shop, they had a 1-day Atlanta Braves special of $144 off a set of 4. The only brand they had in-stock were the Mastercraft Avengers (a.k.a. Coppers), but as it was essentially BOGO on the rears I went for it. I have no issues with non-matching patterns front and back. (The tire store also called me to tell me I need new front pads, but apologetically then told me they couldn’t find them anywhere. I had forgotten I had a set in my toolbag, which I had just taken out of the car that morning to reduce “temptation”. Damn. Would have been the perfect time to fit them obviously)

So, in reference to one of the other threads, I now have Made in Japan Toyos on the front with a 0413 date code, and Made in Mexico Mastercrafts (aka Coopers) with a 2012 date code, on the rear (the old rears had 2000 and 2003 date code, so they were well due to be changed). These tires will age out before they wear out, I suspect (and yes, I got an alignment also). The one good point of the week was how quiet and soft new rubber is.

Week was looking up at last.

Until my auto-box GC failed on the way home from the tire store. Spent the weekend chasing shadows, mostly self inflicted. Damn and Blast.

As I pulled into my driveway, coming back from the tire store, it stopped like this:

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20216&d=1372713302

Sounds like you are having a bad week Dermont. That really stinks!!

[dvonk]

...went to the movies, where I got my rear passenger quarter panel badly scratched or maybe keyed...

people are assholes. :angry0: sorry Dermot.

[NightFlyer]

Glad that week is over! I am convinced my car came with a 39900 mile warranty, because everything went to sh*t after that rolled around. ***

WOW - That totally sucks! I had a car vandalized once and know how it feels. The police said that they didn't have the resources/time to investigate it and that I should just file a claim with my insurance. That wasn't acceptable to me though, so I did my own investigation, lifted prints from the car, had a friend in the DA's office run the prints through the database, found the person that did it, turned my evidence over to the police, had the person that did it arrested, and ended up being paid double the repair costs by that person to avoid them having to serve a stint in jail.

Holy crap - I can't believe that only 4,000 miles wore out the tread like it did! What brand/model tires were those?

BTW - Thanks for your nod to my tire thread, I appreciate it :thumbup2:

Hope that your luck starts changing for the better soon!

Maybe that new stereo system that you're planning will help to put a smile back on your face :smile:

[vwdmc16]

Drove to work in the D today as my rebuilt engine still isnt back in my daily toyota, Survived the 106' heat again but half way home the temp was just about at 220' so I had to go without A/C to get the needled back between the second mark and 220'.

Time for a better Radiator.

[Dangermouse]

Holy crap - I can't believe that only 4,000 miles wore out the tread like it did! What brand/model tires were those?

BTW - Thanks for your nod to my tire thread, I appreciate it :thumbup2::

They were Uniroyal somethingorothers. But I don't think the brand had anything to do with it.

The front axle set-up was like /-------\ with the inside of the tires being scrubbed along the ground, rather than rolling on it

A high end Michelin would have met the same fate.

[Farrar]

Took some photos of the work I did last night.

Got as far as this:
20237

Sheet metal screws. Stubby flathead screwdriver works fine on these as long as I remove the relay opposite. For the first time since I owned the car, all four mounting holes are being used. (Previously just had one on each bank.)
20238

As Capt. Picard would say: There! Are! Four! Lights! :lol:
20240

[NightFlyer]

As Capt. Picard would say: There! Are! Four! Lights! :lol:

Love that two-part episode - David Warner was AWESOME as usual! :thumbup:

[WelmoedJ]

They were Uniroyal somethingorothers. But I don't think the brand had anything to do with it.

The front axle set-up was like /-------\ with the inside of the tires being scrubbed along the ground, rather than rolling on it

A high end Michelin would have met the same fate.

+1 on your remark concerning wear-out on tires if wheels are not aligned properly.
My tires now have some 26k Miles on them and are about 50%.

It pays off if you have them re-aligned every couple of years.
Not only because of wear of parts like ball joints, shocks etc, but also because you may accidently hit something (kerb?) causing mis-alignment over time.

Man, did you do some saving of bad occasions and had them paid in one?

[Farrar]

Today I finished tidying up the electrical compartment behind the passenger seat. I added a relay for the fuel pump and choke heater. Since the Lambda relay is a dual-make SPST, I used it in that spot. Just like stock, it's Fuse #7. :)

I confirmed that everything works, but it's pretty messy-looking back there at the moment. Nonetheless, I decided to tackle the area behind the radio bracket next. Most of the harness tape has also fallen off in that area. I applied my HVAC mod, but noticed some wires coming out of the back of the hazard switch receptacle. Looks like that's my next job. I'll have to take the radio bracket out -- again! -- but I'm getting good at putting the boots over the air box now, I've done it so many times. :)

I worked a tiny bit on the fuel system, but didn't get very far before it was time to call it a night, so basically I didn't get much done apart from test-fitting a few bits.

Fortunately, the weekend is almost here. :)

[dmc6960]

Did my first ever parade today. Car was a huge hit. My left foot handled it just fine as well. I was asked to drive in the parade to help represent a local restaurant business. Even got a little kickback for it. Now I just need to search all the image websites for sightings of my car.

On the flip side it also prompted me to wash the car. It's now the cleanest it's been since DCS last year.

[DeLorean03]

Why read about it when you can watch it :)...?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q93zk6C4q5M

[Farrar]

Installed a new fuel pump.

20371

Finished the relay/fuse compartment. Apart from wrapping the harnesses, that is.

20370

[DMC5180]

Installed a new fuel pump.

20371

Finished the relay/fuse compartment. Apart from wrapping the harnesses, that is.

20370

What are the extra Breakers For?

[Farrar]

What are the extra Breakers For?

Radiator fans. I changed the circuit from stock so that each fan has its own circuit breaker and relay.

[dustybarn]

Finished installing my custom front suspension brace. It's a little different from the ones I've seen offered for sale, in that it's made of aluminum channel and doesn't use rod ends at the ends. It also replaces the bolts with studs to simplify assembly.

20380

There are reinforcing plates (held on by the cap screws visible in the picture) under the ends that spread the load into the channel web.

[Chris 16409]

Installed a new oil pressure (gauge) sender. It has an original type ring terminal connector, so it made installation a bit easier.

[jawn101]

Time for a better Radiator.
Just saw this, did you put mine in yet?

[Kenny_Z]

I tinkered with the driver side door locks. Red locked me in once shortly before I started the paint stripping. Before she goes back together I wanted to make sure that wasn't going to happen again. I think I've got it fixed. Now I need to fix the passenger door. I've never been able to open it without the key turned to the left. I think the tension on the lock bars is just a tad too tight.

[Farrar]

Finished the fuel pump install.

20383
20384
20385
20382

Checked to see that the float wasn't stuck after all this time sitting at the bottom of the bowl. (It was, but I freed it.)

20386

Added some bits of hose to make idle air adjustment easier.

20387

Replaced broken connectors for full throttle microswitch.

20388

Found out why one of the license plate lamps wasn't working. :(

20389

Broke the license plate bezel. :'(

20390

Not pictured: added brake signal wire for cruise control.

Also not pictured, and you'll be grateful that it isn't: me completely drenched from head to toe in my own sweat. When my fiancé got back from the store, she said I smelled like gasoline and salt. LOL

But for the first time since the car was parked over a year ago, I started and ran the engine! Man, that sounded good -- and felt great. As soon as I fix the lighting problems, I'll be ready to charge the a/c and hit the road again.

[Ron]

But for the first time since the car was parked over a year ago, I started and ran the engine!

:thumbup:

Are you using any kind of a baffle, banking on what's in the carb bowl, or ??

[Kenny_Z]

Congrats Farrar. I bought two new license lamp housings for Red. I think one of my old ones is still in good shape. I'll check, if it's good do you want it? Free of charge.

[Farrar]

Are you using any kind of a baffle, banking on what's in the carb bowl, or ??

I have a tuna can with small holes around the bottom. It's the same size as John Hervey's baffle, or at least what he was selling at the time. Bill Robertson gave it to me just before DCS '08. That guy must eat a lot of tuna.


I bought two new license lamp housings for Red. I think one of my old ones is still in good shape. I'll check, if it's good do you want it? Free of charge.

That'd be great! Thanks, Kenny!

[Kenny_Z]

That'd be great! Thanks, Kenny!

No problem. I'll send you a PM with pictures when I find them. I didn't put them on my "removed but keep" shelf for some reason. I know I didn't toss them out. The rain chased me back inside so I'll look for them again later.

[DMC5180]

Kenny, You can't do picture uploads in PM's. You can do links to third party hosts though.

[Kenny_Z]

All my photos are links to images stored my personal web server. I find it's much easier to cross post on a few different forums I visit.

[refugeefromcalif]

I did 6599's 3'rd oil change today, (Every 3,000 miles), and of course had to take it for a 25 mile Test drive... :driving1:

Funny,
I picked up my 2012 minivan last year on Aug. 3. It had 253 miles. It now has 3,802 miles.
I picked up 6599 last year Sept. 12. It had just over 4,500 miles. It now has 13,308.

Is this Normal? I know that many members here, don't put this many miles on their D in a years time.
Does anyone think I'm Addicted to my 32 year old car? Is this a Bad thing? :tongue:

George

[DrJeff]

I built a door torsion adjustment jig today from the diagram in the Winter 1986 DeLorean World magazine. I constructed it all from a 8ft 2x6 pine ~$6. I doubled up the uprights (2 of 2x6 - which now actually measures 3x5.5in). The dimensions across the engine bay and resting on the pontoons (small angled 'feet' needed) fitted perfectly. I put some left-over leather on the feet to protect the pontoon.

As you can see from the photo, once I test fitted it to the car I realized I got the spacing of the uprights incorrect - I read the wrong dimension on the diagram. Thankfully the fix only required moving the centers of the uprights to 14 inches (vs the 20 inches in the photo).

2042320424

My doors have been bouncing at the top since I got the car. I fitted the soft-lifts recently and while they helped the torsion is still too strong. (and its been creaking more since I fitted them :screwy: ???). Whatever is going on it is time for torsion reduction and the roof separation fix.

[Kenny_Z]

I started working on my door panels. I'm hoping to get a few minutes to tinker with the passenger latches.

I found that license lamp for Farrar too. It was in my keep to reinstall pile.

[jawn101]

Drove it to work. Broke my own rule of not driving long distances on triple-digit days, by accident. Was only supposed to be 92 and ended up 103 - but everything still worked perfectly and I stayed nice and cool inside. It was a good test for my new Uding radiator - with my old one, running with max A/C on a hot day like that would have kicked the temp gauge up a quarter-tick. Now it barely crosses the first line, same as on a cool day. Hooray!

Also finally replaced my glove box lamp with a correct 12v one from eBay. Now I can program my dome light timer again :)

[eagle-co94]

Pulled both torsion bars in about 10 minutes. Probably the easiest thing I've done on a DeLorean. I can't believe that anyone would say it is a difficult job.

[Farrar]

Pulled both torsion bars in about 10 minutes.

By yourself, or with a helper? Did you use the famous jig?

[Dangermouse]

Pulled both torsion bars in about 10 minutes. Probably the easiest thing I've done on a DeLorean. I can't believe that anyone would say it is a difficult job.

Parts car?

[eagle-co94]

Yep, off the parts car. I did rig up a jig, but had a few differences in mine:

used 2 folded towels instead of the 7 1/2 degree feet
Home Depot had about 6' of 2x8 so I used that instead of 2x6 for the base. Wood cost was $4.25 and the HD guy cut the pieces to size for me (all out of the scrap bin).
My cheater bar was the handle from my floor jack.
The only extension over 12" that ANYONE around here had (after NAPA closed with their banker's hours:banghead:) was a 20" 1/2" drive extension from Pep Boys (and it was the last extension over 10" they had). Auto Zone, Advance Auto, Home Depot, all bust. I'm sure Ace would have it...but they're 15 minutes away while all the others are within about 5 minutes of the house.

I did have a helper because of the number of people I saw doing it the first time and all the hype I've read. I'm going to do it ALONE next time after seeing how easy it was (and will report back). I would not consider doing it alone without the jig.

[Josh]

Yep, off the parts car. I did rig up a jig, but had a few differences in mine:

used 2 folded towels instead of the 7 1/2 degree feet
Home Depot had about 6' of 2x8 so I used that instead of 2x6 for the base. Wood cost was $4.25 and the HD guy cut the pieces to size for me (all out of the scrap bin).
My cheater bar was the handle from my floor jack.
The only extension over 12" that ANYONE around here had (after NAPA closed with their banker's hours:banghead:) was a 20" 1/2" drive extension from Pep Boys (and it was the last extension over 10" they had). Auto Zone, Advance Auto, Home Depot, all bust. I'm sure Ace would have it...but they're 15 minutes away while all the others are within about 5 minutes of the house.

I did have a helper because of the number of people I saw doing it the first time and all the hype I've read. I'm going to do it ALONE next time after seeing how easy it was (and will report back). I would not consider doing it alone without the jig.

I did this just the other day as well, and agreed it is not too bad. However I did it by myself and a helper would have been nice, especially when removing the door itself. Its a nice workout holding the rod tensioned when taking off the plate haha. I think my passenger side was a bit overtorqued.

[Farrar]

Finished the fuel pump install. I didn't like the way I had a 1/4" hose shoved onto the fuel pump's 3/8" barb, so I went to the hardware store and looked for a 1/4" to 3/8" reducing coupler. They didn't have any, but they did have both sizes of hose barb with male and female 1/4" NPT threads, so I picked the male of one and the female of the other and made a reducing coupler which will work until a more elegant solution can be found. They also had a couple of stainless steel hose clamps, which I installed to tidy everything up.

20457

I turned the key to "on" and checked for fuel leaks. No leaks! :)

[dvonk]

Why read about it when you can watch it :)...?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q93zk6C4q5M

this is hilarious... reminds me of The Price is Right. :D

[DMCMW Dave]

I'm going to do it ALONE next time after seeing how easy it was (and will report back). I would not consider doing it alone without the jig.

Just be prepared - you will eventually run into one where some idiot didn't put the Allen bit in all the way, overtorqued the door, and expanded the head of the torsion bar. This locks the bar into the clamp, which you can't release due to the window glass. That's when things get pretty exciting. And you'll wish you had a helper or two.

The other things you will find - stripped retainer bolts, cross-threaded weld nuts, un-welded weld nuts, etc. There area some pretty bad prior-owners out there.

[DeLorean03]

Changed the rockscreen today. Too bad some of the bolts wouldn't give up...



2046520466

[Farrar]

Purchased some 12-terminal connectors from Radio Shack, and some 5-minute epoxy from Ace Hardware.

Stay tuned to find out what they were for...

[Ryan S.]

Just be prepared - you will eventually run into one where some idiot didn't put the Allen bit in all the way, overtorqued the door, and expanded the head of the torsion bar. This locks the bar into the clamp, which you can't release due to the window glass. That's when things get pretty exciting. And you'll wish you had a helper or two.

The other things you will find - stripped retainer bolts, cross-threaded weld nuts, un-welded weld nuts, etc. There area some pretty bad prior-owners out there.

Last time I had mine adjusted, a bolt flew out at a very high speed. Thank god nobody got injured. Respect torsion bars. I do.

[Dangermouse]

The front axle set-up was like /-------\ with the inside of the tires being scrubbed along the ground, rather than rolling on it

A high end Michelin would have met the same fate.

My mistake. Poor graphics.

They were actually set up like this \--------/, where the front of the car is ^

[Dangermouse]

Why read about it when you can watch it :)...?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q93zk6C4q5M

I would be wearing my louvers for referring to my sweetness as "wifey" ;).

[eagle-co94]

Just be prepared - you will eventually run into one where some idiot didn't put the Allen bit in all the way, overtorqued the door, and expanded the head of the torsion bar. This locks the bar into the clamp, which you can't release due to the window glass. That's when things get pretty exciting. And you'll wish you had a helper or two.

The other things you will find - stripped retainer bolts, cross-threaded weld nuts, un-welded weld nuts, etc. There area some pretty bad prior-owners out there.

I agree, someone that inquired about my torsion bars said that on 5 parts cars he checked out 3 had broken torsion bars. Sad, really.

[DeLorean03]

I would be wearing my louvers for referring to my sweetness as "wifey" ;).

Shows us how different everyone is. She prefers "wifey" (: .

[Kenny_Z]

Examined the rear wiring harness from the DeLorean and played count the splices. Then I tried not to speak ill of the dead since both previous owners are deceased. Why splice one wire 6 times instead of buying a longer wire? And crushing an irreplaceable bulb socket with a pipe clamp is not a substitute for a ground strap.

[Ron]

Examined the rear wiring harness from the DeLorean and played count the splices. Then I tried not to speak ill of the dead since both previous owners are deceased. Why splice one wire 6 times instead of buying a longer wire? And crushing an irreplaceable bulb socket with a pipe clamp is not a substitute for a ground strap.
Maybe this will make you feel a little bit better bro...
As sent to fix:

20473

[Kenny_Z]

Ouch...yes that does.

That and the replacement sockets are only 10 bucks on DMCH. I wish I would have looked at this harness before my last order. Now I have to pull together some odds and ends I might need to make it worth the price of shipping.

[Dangermouse]

Shows us how different everyone is. (: .

Indeed they are.

No offense intended by my first comment btw. Just that "wifey" is a hot-button word for mine, for some reason.

[DeLorean03]

Indeed they are.

No offense intended by my first comment btw. Just that "wifey" is a hot-button word for mine, for some reason.

No offense taken at all, good sir (: .

Didn't do anything to the car today, but Jessica and I did hang this (: !

20474

[Farrar]

Just that "wifey" is a hot-button word for mine, for some reason.

I've already made my fiancé promise that she'll never call me "hubby."

Edit: I just noticed this post is one number away from my VIN! Missed it by a hair! :lol:

[Farrar]

I'm taking an air conditioning/water/snack break, but here's what I've done so far today:

I re-routed the disused "brake lights on with key only" power (green) to the headlight switch's illumination bulb (orange/red at the switch). This will help me find the headlight switch button in darkness. I left the original wiring in place, so it can be easily changed back.

I took the HVAC panel illumination bulbs off of the harness and added a pigtail. Now all of those pesky leads are out of the way when I'm plugging everything else back in. I plug the pigtail in last, et voila -- all done.

I added my Y-connector to the HVAC mode switch wiring to turn the compressor on with defrost, heat, etc. Again, original wiring and connectors are still in place, so can be easily changed back.

I re-installed the radio bracket. Those boots for the vents aren't nearly as bad to put back on as people make them out to be. Then again, my radio is not installed. I was able to poke my fingers behind the bracket, make sure everything was seated, and pull the boots back a touch to ensure a good seal. That might not have been possible if I had a stereo head unit protruding back there.

I investigated using JB Weld to put the studs back into my passenger knee pad, but all but one of the studs are missing. Looks like I'll have to go to the hardware store to try to find something compatible. I was going, anyway -- to find stainless screws for the license plate light fixtures.

I left the camera in the garage, so pictures will follow later. Time for a trip to Ace...

Edit: Holy crap! It's post #2613! :D

[DMC5180]

I'm taking an air conditioning/water/snack break, but here's what I've done so far today:

I investigated using JB Weld to put the studs back into my passenger knee pad, but all but one of the studs are missing. Looks like I'll have to go to the hardware store to try to find something compatible. I was going, anyway -- to find stainless screws for the license plate light fixtures.

Edit: Holy crap! It's post #2613! :D


Farrar,

You might try something like this.

20475

With the insert installed/glued in if you have too. You can thread the stud into it or Use Compatible Screws. Good Hardware Stores will have a selection of these type of fastener insert nuts.

[Farrar]

You might try something like this...

Thanks, GENIUNE Momo Man! ;) (For some reason that's the first thing I see on your posts.)

The deed is already done...

20480

...but if this fails, I'll consider some thread inserts plus studs as my next attempt.

In other news:

HVAC panel lights pigtail:

20481

Naturally, when I checked to make sure everything was OK, one of the bulbs (an LED, actually) was not lit. First thought: pull and check the bulb. The glass part came off, and the rest of it stayed behind. Grr. I got it out, anyway, and am leaving that socket empty for now. I did, however, check it with a spare (incandescent) bulb.

I have two functioning license plate fixtures now -- Thanks, Kenny Z! -- and they're installed with stainless screws.

20482

My fiancé walked by and asked how things were going. "I'm making good progress," I enthused. That doomed me.

The next place I went was in the driver's footwell. I had recently seen a helpful photo of how to attach the bracket which holds the windshield wiper delay box. "Oh, that's easy," I said. After twenty minuts of the usual lying on my back slicing my fingertips open, with my glasses steaming up and sliding up my nose to rest on my eyelashes, I finally shoved the damned thing behind the carpet, which is where it was when I got the car five years ago and where it shall, evidently, remain, until someone who is not me tries to install it properly.

At this point, the passenger door was close and the driver's door was open. Paradoxically, the passenger door lights were on, and the driver door lights weren't. Neither was the dome light on. I opened the passenger door and yanked the wires off the switch. The lights went out. Ah ha! Bad switch?

Wrong. Dave's courtesy light module was saving my battery. The only way to get the lights back is to unplug the module and plug it back in.

I unplugged the module, and plugged it back in. Now none of the courtesy lights were on. I stuck a jumper in the connectors for the passenger door switch. Still nothing. Then I went over to the driver's door and did the same. The lights came on.

Someone with a 1,000-Hz tone box needs to camp out in my garage with their finger on the button whenever I'm in there. At this point, my head was so full of remarkably rude words and phrases, all jostling for release, that I couldn't get a single one out. I had the idea to leave the jumpers in place and put the courtesy lights on a switch. I will then put a sign on the door switch wiring which says "Fuck this. It's not worth it. Move on." Same with the wiper delay module bracket.

I moved on.

I decided to do something easy. I put the HVAC ducting on the driver's side back in place. Huzzah! Feeling better, I wrapped the most vulnerable bits of the wiring harness (now mostly stripped of its Dunmurry Dress) in silicone tape, in what one could call a nearsightedly optimistic belief that the console will go back in tomorrow.

I turned the key. The fuel pump still runs. Previously, the needle valve had become disconnected from the float, so gasoline would just keep flowing out of the carburetor, but I had double-checked that today. There are no leaks in the system. So there is that.

Now it's time for Advil and lemonade.

[Silverbullet]

Examined the rear wiring harness from the DeLorean and played count the splices. Then I tried not to speak ill of the dead since both previous owners are deceased. Why splice one wire 6 times instead of buying a longer wire? And crushing an irreplaceable bulb socket with a pipe clamp is not a substitute for a ground strap.

Ouch... 6? .... man... Guess it is why I call it a "Sports Car"... cause you have to BE a real sport to own it....:hihi2:

[DrJeff]

Just be prepared - you will eventually run into one where some idiot didn't put the Allen bit in all the way, overtorqued the door, and expanded the head of the torsion bar. This locks the bar into the clamp, which you can't release due to the window glass. That's when things get pretty exciting. And you'll wish you had a helper or two.

The other things you will find - stripped retainer bolts, cross-threaded weld nuts, un-welded weld nuts, etc. There area some pretty bad prior-owners out there.

My doors have to take twice the force (what seems like an almighty slam) to close than anyone else's doors that I've tried. I got the soft-lift struts to help with the bouncing, but you still need to hang on as they approach the top... so I've been preparing to adjust the torsion on the doors and get this solved. I also suspected a slight bit of roof separation on the RH side.

I took off the finishing trim today to have a look at the torsion clamps, bar ends, etc. First bad sign was the screws used to hold the finishing strip on. If I'm not mistaken that's a wood screw, a machine screw, and a metal screw. :facepalm:
20483

On the LH side the washer is missing (okay not too big a deal), but on the RH side it looks like the hex socket took a bit of abuse. My 3/8 hex socket also shows a bit of play when inserted.:frown: The RH clamp is also showing some signs in the paint/surface that suggest a bit of rotation (under the left bottom edge).
2048420485

I don't know if this is stock but the screws look like one of the roof separation fixes I've seen. The screw to the inside of the RH clamp is showing signs of leaning up just slightly (i.e. roof separation). There might be an 1/8 in deviation here.
20486

Something tells me this could get exciting :frantic:

[Kenny_Z]

I have two functioning license plate fixtures now -- Thanks, Kenny Z! -- and they're installed with stainless screws.


Awesome, glad it found a home and that it could be part of your easy part of the day.

Yeah, no less than 6 splices and color changes from red to black to brown with a white stripe. I snipped that section out and taped the ends while I wait on a lamp socket from DMCH.

[Minkman]

Spent this week rebuilding the front callipers and installing stainless braided brake lines. Have just had the new bearings (well NOS, and it's obvious unfortunately so will need to look into something better later) pressed into the hubs so have now fitted new rotors and reinstalled.

Just got to fit the new pads, bleed, tighten everything up, and take her out for a shakedown - hopefully no issues so I can take her for a trip tomorrow, first time she'll be on the road since trip to Sydney last month.

Did you have to do anything special to slide the hub assembly(with new bearings) back on to the spindle? Or did they go on easy?

[Tillsy]

Did you have to do anything special to slide the hub assembly(with new bearings) back on to the spindle? Or did they go on easy?

They wouldn't go back on, would wedge a mere millimetre in, insanely tight/precise fit so metal on metal just wouldn't budge.

Same problem as getting them off, except since they were already now off I could apply a teensy amount bearing grease to the axle and spindle - they slipped straight on with no effort what-so-ever after that :)

[DashEight]

Well, today was to be the big day that I turn the key and start the engine for the first time in 13+ years. Everything bolted back together with all new parts. A fresh 4 gallons of gas in the tank, new battery, etc.

I turned the key and she turned over (and over and over...) I tried a handful of times thinking the new fuel system had to pressurize. I threw in the towel until I could get a second person down at the shop with me to start trouble shooting the fuel, air, and spark. I didn’t want to burn up the starter. So maybe next week.

I did manage to put new seats in my jeep after that so all was not lost. Productive day. -Patrick

[Farrar]

Started putting the interior, such as it is, back into the car.

Added washers to prevent screws from going through wood:
20520

Re-installed the carpet:
20521
20522

Rear trim piece with added LEDs installed:
20523

Rear carpet piece installed -- what's with that gap?
20524

Leftmost knee pad lost a stud. Doesn't look factory to me -- a previous repair that failed?
20525

Replaced it with a 6mm stud using JB Weld.
20526

The legacy of Sparky's water leak is evident, but only until I put the seats in.
20527

Getting ground for my footwell lights:
20528

Console has seen better days:
20529

Looks OK when inatalled, though:
20530

JB Weld did not hold the new studs in, but I installed the knee pads anyway. The knee pads and gauge cluster can now flop around in unison while I drive.
20531
20532

Seats are installed. Passenger seat back is broken, so it doesn't fit right:
20519

Still to do: add fresh fuel, check fuel gauge sender, change brake fluid, charge air conditioning.

Ordered a steering column bushing and front swaybar kit from DPNW. Hope to install them this weekend.

[Lenny]

I would be wearing my louvers for referring to my sweetness as "wifey" ;).

Why you may not want to refer to your wife as " Wifey"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wifey's_World

[Josh]

One of the things I did yesterday was disassemble my axles. Boy is that terrible. Worst thing I have done yet, and I have ripped the whole car apart.

[eagle-co94]

Why you may not want to refer to your wife as " Wifey"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wifey's_World

You say that like it's a bad thing?

[Rich]

My doors have to take twice the force (what seems like an almighty slam) to close than anyone else's doors that I've tried. ....I also suspected a slight bit of roof separation on the RH side.

....but on the RH side it looks like the hex socket took a bit of abuse. My 3/8 hex socket also shows a bit of play when inserted.:frown: The RH clamp is also showing some signs in the paint/surface that suggest a bit of rotation (under the left bottom edge).
20485
Something tells me this could get exciting

Well, it could be worse but you're on the right track.

Yes, your hard-to-close door is a direct symptom of a PO or technician who tried to solve a door droop problem (due to worn lift struts) by up-torquing the door. This often contributes to a roof box delamination and it looks like you have that going on there, too. Further evidence is the pair of pencil marks on the torsion bar head, the ones that are 4-5 splines apart. Given that each spline adds another 14 lb-ft of torque it looks like somebody ratcheted the door up by 70-85 lb-ft and that's excessive.

So you should detorque at least that door as soon as you can manage it.

A bit of play in the head of the 3/8" allen tool is OK. Just be sure that the socket is NOT a 3/8" sq. drive on the back end. You must use a 1/2" sq. drive or you risk shearing the drive, especially at the preload your bar looks like it's set to. It could be >140 ft-lb when it's open. Again, that over-torque is just bad for everything and the distortion of the hex head in the bar goes right along with that. Be prepared.

Based on the photo you shouldn't experience any mushrooming problem getting the bracket off the torsion bar. The head of the bar is beneath the back end of the bracket already. But you never know.

[Farrar]

Parts arrived from DPNW today! Front sway bar kit and steering column bushing. The instructions make everything look pretty straightforward, but I'm still nervous -- I've never before dismantled anything so critical to the car's safety. Still, I'm excited. :)

[Rich]

Parts arrived from DPNW today! Front sway bar kit and steering column bushing. The instructions make everything look pretty straightforward, but I'm still nervous -- I've never before dismantled anything so critical to the car's safety. Still, I'm excited. :)

Your safety-related comment is probably aimed at the front sway bar kit.

You probably know there is a How-To for that part - LINK: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?42 (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?42)

Pay attention to all of the torque settings, use the proper retaining nuts/washers. And be sure to double-check everything at the front and back of the bar 100-300 miles after you get it back together just to be sure nothing is getting loose.

I haven't seen the instructions - in case any of this conflicts with what DPNW says pay attention to them, not me.

[Nick774]

Finally today after six months we received the soft lifts from Hervey. I ordered the whole set of six for the hood and engine but only received the door struts. Either way today I got to throw the broom stick away and spend about 30 minutes having a ball with the doors. I love these struts. Both doors go up nicely all the way withouth very little bounce. Passenger side is a little harder to close and still had some spring to it without the strut so I will like to have the torsion bars evened out.

While Im at it here's an update. New frame is Freshly welded and POR 15 with the rustolium smoke gray. All thats left is to attach the crumple tubes that are now ready. New engine mounts, motor seals, new engine. Gettin' there...

[Farrar]

Your safety-related comment is probably aimed at the front sway bar kit...

Thanks, Rich! I hadn't looked up the how-to yet, but DPNW included instructions which dovetail with your warning about torque settings and re-checking after a certain number of miles driven (they suggest 50-100). Wish me luck... :)

[Lenny]

I've been traveling for the last 4 weeks and haven't been able to drive the car. I went out turned the key and it started first time it made me smile. Drove it to run a few errands.

[papanoel]

Recieved delivery of my D today. turned out to be quite the adventure but very happy :)

Including some fun times where the car decided it needed it wanted to park itself in the Lincoln Tunnel during morning rush hour.

[Farrar]

Finished putting the interior back in, except for the steering column surround and glove box, which are broken, and the cargo net and glove box lid, which are missing. (But I think I know where they might be...)

Replaced rear side marker lights with new LED modules.

Changed the brake fluid. What I put in was clear. What I got out was brown and opaque. Yuck.

Put the engine compartment lights on a rocker switch.

Checked the battery. 12.35v.

Turned the key. Crank, crank, crank, crank, crank...

Well, it started just the other day...

Called it a night.

[dustybarn]

Replaced seized AC idler bearing with one from McMaster (same price as DMCH, but 2 days closer to me for for shipping). Nice to have AC back with the 90+ temperatures we're experiencing.

I had a devil of a time disassembling it. The spacer was seized to the spindle, trapping the bearing in place. It took an overnight soak in Kroil and a hydraulic press to get it apart.

[Silverbullet]

Recieved delivery of my D today. turned out to be quite the adventure but very happy :)

Including some fun times where the car decided it needed it wanted to park itself in the Lincoln Tunnel during morning rush hour.

Way cool! Congrats Year? Vin? Where are you?

Craig

[Farrar]

Finished my courtesy light modifications. Pics, or possibly even video, to follow.

[Tillsy]

Finished my courtesy light modifications. Pics, or possibly even video, to follow.

Does that mean you solved your issues? Your other thread says things were worse?

[Farrar]

Does that mean you solved your issues? Your other thread says things were worse?

I postponed solving the problem.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQCvYaLZ25Y

[Farrar]

Put my engine compartment lights on a toggle switch.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy1JkEBg68A

[LordFly]

Parked it beside a Ghostbusters car :D

20589

[Kenny_Z]

For a second Farrar I thought you had an arc reactor for an engine ;)

[Farrar]

It stopped raining, so I went out to the garage and fired up the engine. Fuel poured out of the carburetor and down into the intake valley. I stopped the engine.

I decided to cut off the fuel pump and run the engine for a minute to drain the fuel from the carburetor bowl. The starter motor hesitated, like it didn't want to turn. Instead of going "trr, trr, trr, trr," it went "trrt."

I checked the battery -- 11.35 volts. It should start. I kept turning the key and eventually it caught. That was weird.

I couldn't run the engine for very long, because the garage was filling up with exhaust. (I backed the car into the garage last summer. I AM SMRT!)

When I shut the engine off, thick white smoke was coming out of the left tailpipe. It was sinking down slowly, like dry ice subliming. That was also weird.

I took the top off of the carburetor. I suppose the float setting got messed up when I un-stuck the float from the bottom of the bowl.

I adjusted the float to what I think is a ridiculously low level, put the top of the carburetor back on, and ran the fuel pump. Fuel failed to flow out of the carburetor and onto its surroundings.

I decided to turn the car around so I could work on it with the rear end facing out of the garage. This was not very easy with the car not running and no one to help me.

By myself, I got the car out of the garage (hitting the driver door on the garage's door frame in the process -- I had checked vertical, but not horizontal, clearance -- fortunately, the wood is soft and the edge of the door is hard). I was very near to a parking space when someone walked by and offered to help. I graciously accepted, or as graciously as one can be when covered in sweat and gasoline and heaving for breath while one's sides, back, and arms scream "stop whatever it is you think you're doing, because we're not having a good time right now at all and we want you to be very aware of this."

I am now sore outside and inside.

The car is safely (?) in a parking space near my apartment. Currently, it is not raining outside.

The question is: can I run the engine with a quarter-inch of fuel in the intake valley, or should I wait until tomorrow when it has likely evaporated? Or should I go out, dry it out with papertowels, and try again before it starts raining again?

Geez -- all of this just so I can turn the car around and start re-charging the air conditioning! What an ordeal!

[Kenny_Z]

Sounds like your carb needs a rebuild. Can you tell where the fuel is coming from? I have one like that and it is one of the reasons I hate Motorcraft 2100s. I could never get the thing to run right. I wanted a 4 barrel in the Mustang anyway so I didn't try very hard to fix it.

I don't know the risk but I never run engines around puddles of fuel. I've had a car backfire and shoot flames out the carb. If the engine had been a big puddle it would have been a big inferno.

[LordFly]

The question is: can I run the engine with a quarter-inch of fuel in the intake valley, or should I wait until tomorrow when it has likely evaporated? Or should I go out, dry it out with papertowels, and try again before it starts raining again?

I personally would sop up what I could with paper towels and then run it. the intake valley shouldn't reach the ignition point. But keep a fire extinguisher within arms reach anyways, just in case. But that's just me.

[Farrar]

Sounds like your carb needs a rebuild. Can you tell where the fuel is coming from?

I rebuilt it two years ago and haven't used it much since...

Last week when I put the new fuel pump in, I checked out the carburetor. The needle valve and float looked fine. But the float was stuck to the bottom of the bowl. I un-stuck it, and must have messed up the height setting in the process. When I took the top off the carb, I saw the float was all the way at the top and the needle valve wasn't doing squat. I set the float down some, just eyeballing it, and it works fine now with no leaks. So that one was definitely my fault. I don't think well when I'm hot and tired.

My solution to the gasoline spill was to pour a couple of gallons of water down into the intake valley. (No, the engine was not hot.) Once the water coming out the bottom of the engine compartment was rainbow-free, I knew I was good to try again. That was when I fired the engine back up and idled it for about ten minutes, checking everything along the way. The fuel gauge now reads 1/8 of a tank, so I'm going to go get some fresh fuel.

Now I have to see about re-charging the air conditioning out in the parking lot ... or remember to pull the car forwards into the garage this time...

[Hokie]

I took mine on an errand today and got caught in a localized rain shower. YIKES! Water on the frame AND the car was dirtier than its ever been. So, I performed a water and rag wash today for the first time. Looks pretty good. Maybe next time I'll even use soap...

[Farrar]

After putting 2 gallons of fresh fuel in the tank, I did pull the car into the garage forwards. I allowed it to warm up fully, so that I could check the radiator fan function. The fans came on and turned off again.

Once the engine is warmed up, it has an idle which is mostly smooth with an occasional burble. It's a familiar sound. Now I remember how annoyed I always was when the engine was idling. I hate that burble. It's completely at random and impossible to pin down. Other people listen to it and say "What sound are you talking about? It sounds fine to me." I know I have good ears, but come on, everybody else's can't be bad.

With idle problems I always assume vacuum leak. Nope. I adjusted the idle air screws. Nope. In fact, although it's not a good idea, I can idle the engine at 500RPM -- that tells me my air/fuel mixture is OK and I don't have a vacuum leak. Maybe my engine needs a valve adjustment? Or I'll just get used to the burble. Or I'll go EFI to get rid of it.

Anyway, with the engine running, I decided it was time to finish the a/c charge. But I was unable to get the second can of R-134a into the system, because when I pulled the can tap off of the first can, the O-ring fell out of the tap into, I presume, Narnia. I have this awesome can tap which will screw onto an R-134a can on one side and onto an R-12 charging hose on the other side. I can't remember where I got it. I'm hanging on to it for dear life, because you can't just buy the middle hose for R-134a. My gauge hoses are the same backwards and forwards. The high and low side hoses have adapters, but the charging hose doesn't.

Go to an auto parts store and tell them you need an O-ring for R-12 gauges. It's like an episode of "Candid Camera," except you're not pranking anyone.

Oh, the engine occasionally makes a sort of grinding sound. That's another reason I was twiddling with the air-fuel screws. It didn't seem to do anything about the sound, though.

I'm calling it a night. My garage is right next to an apartment where some nice, old, disabled folks live. I'm not going to run the engine any later than 9pm. Inside the garage, that sucker's loud. In the morning, I'll take the can tap to the hardware store and see if they can come up with an appropriate O-ring for the can tap. Unless Narnia decides to give up the original, that is...

[DeLorean03]

Install Mark Sutton's prototype LED clock - man does it look sweet!



20607

20608

20609

Pictures of the old clock which stopped keeping time sometime last year.

20611
20610

Pictures comparing the front and backs of the new and old clock.

20612

New clock installed! The wiring on the new clock is plentiful. The gauge of it, I would guess, is about 22 gauge. I knew there was no way I'd be able to get a butt connector on it, so Jessica stripped the wires, tied them together, and we soldered them together using resin-free solder. Then we wrapped them in electrical tape. As Overland Man suggested, I utilized the green wire off the old clock to have the new clock's display light up when the ignition switch is engaged, and the black wire obviously for ground. The other two wires were wrapped in electrical tape separately, and then together to keep things "neat and clean."

20613

Jessica suggesting to me "You kinda need to re-install this, buddy...."

20614

New clock installed!

20615

Jessica and I sharing the honor of removing the protective filament on the clock's face.

20616
20617
20618

Pictures of the new clock :D!!!

20619

Picture of nearly everything needed to do this job. Was not too bad at all!

20604

Happy Jeremiah (:

We also got one of my tail lights to behave again (bad connection at the LED bulb to tail light board), diagnosed a bad interior dome light switch, and re-installed the sliding plastic piece that moves with the gear shifter of the auto trans. All in all, not a bad night working with my wifey :stp:.

[Farrar]

For a second Farrar I thought you had an arc reactor for an engine ;)

I did once build a carbon arc light for a school science project using two rods from D-cell batteries...

[DrJeff]

I got the t-panel off using a 1in x 1/8in x 48in aluminium bar with one end sharpened to a chisel point. I found about 1lb of what looks like kitchen & bath clear caulk. I knew that the t-panel had been off before and someone had been messing with torsion bars.

??? Why did no one mention about there being a hard foam spacer under the t-panel ???

The electrical connections all look good, no corrosion, but there's plenty of rust around the walls. I scraped and vacuumed out what I could and exposed the rest to toxic levels of rust converter.

I found the end of the yellow-white wires, other end of which is used inside the doors. The yellow-white wires get to a connector in the roof-box but don't have a corresponding wire out the other side of the connector. I had previously routed the yellow-white wires in the doors into the mirror housings (when I was doing the heated mirrors project). I added connectors and brought the yellow-white wires down to the fuse area. The plan is to add indicators to the mirror housings - just haven't decided how yet (although I did rule out an arrow behind the mirror itself - the D's mirrors are already too small and making what's behind you even less visible due to indicators didn't make sense to me). The existing port (fixed sized opening) out the back of the roof box into the cabin roof is very full with wires!

206292063020631206322063320634206352063620637

Next up... roof separation fix and re-torquing the bars (mine are over torqued by a good measure).

[Farrar]

Today, I went out to the garage to find a coolant leak here.
20639

I fixed that, then started the engine to charge the air conditioning.

Oddly, the compressor would only run if I stuck jumpers in BOTH the high and low pressure switches. Anyone know how that works?

After two cans of R-134a had been sucked into the system, my vent temps weren't moving. I shut the engine off and heard a hissing sound.

I traced it to here.
20640

Tightened it until the hissing stopped. Coincidentally, the nut wouldn't move anymore, either.

Pulled a vacuum again.

After pulling a vacuum for five minutes:
20638

After sitting for 45 minutes:
20641

Rage.

[TheSmokingMan]

Removed the old crappy foglights and alarm system installed by a previous owner today. The door ajar light in the instrument cluster started working again! It hasn't worked since I got the car and I could never figure out why.

[krs09]

During my never ending interior work I really wanted to replace the carpeting, but with help needed in other places on my D I decided to pull every thing out and scrub the hell out of it. Some turned out nice others ehh, but it looks better then it did for sure. These are in order before and after .. My interior really does looke light blue.. Weird

20642206432064420645206462064720648206492065020651 206522065320654206552065620657

[dvonk]

Removed the old crappy foglights and alarm system installed by a previous owner today. The door ajar light in the instrument cluster started working again! It hasn't worked since I got the car and I could never figure out why.

welcome to the forum... loving the handle & avatar. :headbang:

[Morpheus]

I posted my DeLorean up for sale...

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?7694-Project-DeLorean-For-Sale-1981-Grey-5-spd-VIN-4363-10-000-%28Orlando-FL%29

[Farrar]

I posted my DeLorean up for sale...

:(

[eagle-co94]

I posted my DeLorean up for sale...

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?7694-Project-DeLorean-For-Sale-1981-Grey-5-spd-VIN-4363-10-000-%28Orlando-FL%29

Oh no! A dream deferred?

[Morpheus]

I don't have enough free time or resources to put into this car what it needs. I need to reclaim some garage space and start looking for a D that I can drive.

[eagle-co94]

I know exactly how you feel. I've been fooling with non-running D's for too long. It looks like I'm going to do a bodytub swap on 1045 so once 10077 is done and gone I'll get started on that. I need to get my wife's Challenger on the road first though, and possibly my Mini as well.

[Kenny_Z]

I changed her fuel pump on the side of the road. I guess my 30 year old unit finally bit the dust. Zero warning too. Unfortunately during the work I moved the pump from my trunk to my garage and forgot to put it back. I had to go back to the house to get it. Thankfully dad was just getting off work and was 5 minutes down the road when the pump failed. He was impressed at how easy it was to change the pump. By the way, if any of you do not own this I suggest getting it. http://www.amazon.com/Power-Probe-Ultimate-Automotive-Electrical/dp/B000KPU8MK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374615158&sr=8-2&keywords=power+probe+2 It saved me so much time testing and I was able to easily test the "new" pump before installing it.

I saw tons of people filming so Chris, be on the lookout for "idiot and DeLorean broke down in Foley" videos. ;)

[Bitsyncmaster]

I saw tons of people filming so Chris, be on the lookout for "idiot and DeLorean broke down in Foley" videos. ;)

Same thing happened when I had to change my pump on the side of the road. Girl stopped and asked if she could take a photo. I was dripping in sweat and not in a good mood but managed to say "sure".

[Silverbullet]

Same thing happened when I had to change my pump on the side of the road. Girl stopped and asked if she could take a photo. I was dripping in sweat and not in a good mood but managed to say "sure".

You are the man... And she thanks you... Never let them see you sweat... lol Ok we all do.... but they have no clue... Nice...

[jawn101]

Took it to work again. Spent my lunch planning a route home that avoided any road wider than one lane each way - I normally spend 20 miles on 10 traffic clogged lanes of gravel more commonly known as I-80. Discovered I can get from door to door on nothing but farmland twisties, though it takes twice as long. But it's way more fun :)

[sdg3205]

Built shelves for all my spare parts

[Farrar]

Did a soap bubble test on the a/c fittings. Found a leak at, naturally, the evaporator/accumulator join. Turned on the fitting until I felt something give. The wrong size O-ring had been installed and had split, allowing the fitting to bottom out without making a good seal.

Oil in the compressor looked dirty. I drained it. There was barely any in there! Looks like I lost a lot of oil two years ago when the high pressure hose burst. Put in 6 oz. of fresh ester oil and re-installed it.

Trivia: a previous owner had installed the compressor with 7mm bolts. They're supposed to be 8mm. Also, use washers. Washers are nice.

Stripped out the right-hand upper idler pulley hole. Damn. Removed upper idler pulley. Bought a shorter belt (52"). Problem solved.

Sourced new O-rings at AutoZone, put everything back together again. While the vacuum pump sucked on the a/c system, worked on the cooling system: installed a coolant bleeder behind the radiator. Now there's one at the front and the back. I figured I might as well, since I was re-filling the antifreeze, anyway.

Back to the a/c system. Checked vacuum gauges. Looked good. Started charging the system. It acted like the orifice tube was blocked: insanely high pressures on the high side - 400-450 PSI. And no cold air from the vents. Well, shit. Here we go again.

The orifice tube had been installed backwards. Actually, it was a Variable Orifice Valve. I had broken the replacement orifice tube which came with the evaporator kit from DMCMW and found the VOV on sale online for $8 each so I figured I'd go whole hog. This one, installed backwards, broke when I removed it -- the filter screen portion was stuck in the evaporator tube. A piece of wire coat hanger bent into a J-shape was enough to yank on the plastic to get the filter screen out. Destroyed the filter in the process, but who cares?

Did I mention I had bought three VOVs?

Yanked a spare VOV off the shelf. It was difficult to get the new VOV up into the evaporator tube without pinching the filter screen (for grip) to where it, the filter screen, would be in danger of de-forming. I could get it to click once, but not twice.

Enter a cheap ballpoint pen - yank the guts out and the plastic tube is just the right size to push the black plastic of the VOV without disturbing the brass part that moves. Use that to push the VOV in until the second click, then put the filter screen in the adjoining pipe, put them together when you install the pipe on the evaporator tube and you're done: the tiny green O-ring will make the seal between the two parts of the VOV, as long as you didn't push the filter screen too far down the pipe. So, you know, don't do that.

Trimming some excess plastic from the very end of the filter screen element made it just flexible enough to go down the pipe. But not too far...

After 9pm. Didn't bother with a soap bubble test this time. Just put the vacuum pump on it and went to supper.

After supper, dumped a can of R-134a into the system and fired up the engine. The compressor came on. Dumped two more cans in. 65°F temps at the vents standing still.

Smiled, because of the car, for the first time in a long time.

Went for a quick drive. At 45 MPH, 54°F. Ambient temperature was 81°F with 85% humidity. The evaporator was draining onto the pavement. Fantastic!

One weird glitch: the compressor shut off, the cooling fans shut off, AND the blower motor shut off, all at the same time... then came on all at the same time. Will look into that tomorrow. Right now, I'm just happy that I have air conditioning.

2012 was an air-conditoning-free year. 2012 sucked. 2013 is looking better so far.

[Silverbullet]

Did a soap bubble test on the a/c fittings. Found a leak at, naturally, the evaporator/accumulator join. Turned on the fitting until I felt something give. The wrong size O-ring had been installed and had split, allowing the fitting to bottom out without making a good seal.

Oil in the compressor looked dirty. I drained it. There was barely any in there! Looks like I lost a lot of oil two years ago when the high pressure hose burst. Put in 6 oz. of fresh ester oil and re-installed it.

Trivia: a previous owner had installed the compressor with 7mm bolts. They're supposed to be 8mm. Also, use washers. Washers are nice.

Stripped out the right-hand upper idler pulley hole. Damn. Removed upper idler pulley. Bought a shorter belt (52"). Problem solved.

Sourced new O-rings at AutoZone, put everything back together again. While the vacuum pump sucked on the a/c system, worked on the cooling system: installed a coolant bleeder behind the radiator. Now there's one at the front and the back. I figured I might as well, since I was re-filling the antifreeze, anyway.

Back to the a/c system. Checked vacuum gauges. Looked good. Started charging the system. It acted like the orifice tube was blocked: insanely high pressures on the high side - 400-450 PSI. And no cold air from the vents. Well, shit. Here we go again.

The orifice tube had been installed backwards. Actually, it was a Variable Orifice Valve. I had broken the replacement orifice tube which came with the evaporator kit from DMCMW and found the VOV on sale online for $8 each so I figured I'd go whole hog. This one, installed backwards, broke when I removed it -- the filter screen portion was stuck in the evaporator tube. A piece of wire coat hanger bent into a J-shape was enough to yank on the plastic to get the filter screen out. Destroyed the filter in the process, but who cares?

Did I mention I had bought three VOVs?

Yanked a spare VOV off the shelf. It was difficult to get the new VOV up into the evaporator tube without pinching the filter screen (for grip) to where it, the filter screen, would be in danger of de-forming. I could get it to click once, but not twice.

Enter a cheap ballpoint pen - yank the guts out and the plastic tube is just the right size to push the black plastic of the VOV without disturbing the brass part that moves. Use that to push the VOV in until the second click, then put the filter screen in the adjoining pipe, put them together when you install the pipe on the evaporator tube and you're done: the tiny green O-ring will make the seal between the two parts of the VOV, as long as you didn't push the filter screen too far down the pipe. So, you know, don't do that.

Trimming some excess plastic from the very end of the filter screen element made it just flexible enough to go down the pipe. But not too far...

After 9pm. Didn't bother with a soap bubble test this time. Just put the vacuum pump on it and went to supper.

After supper, dumped a can of R-134a into the system and fired up the engine. The compressor came on. Dumped two more cans in. 65°F temps at the vents standing still.

Smiled, because of the car, for the first time in a long time.

Went for a quick drive. At 45 MPH, 54°F. Ambient temperature was 81°F with 85% humidity. The evaporator was draining onto the pavement. Fantastic!

One weird glitch: the compressor shut off, the cooling fans shut off, AND the blower motor shut off, all at the same time... then came on all at the same time. Will look into that tomorrow. Right now, I'm just happy that I have air conditioning.

2012 was an air-conditoning-free year. 2012 sucked. 2013 is looking better so far.

My guess is a bad connection or weak Circuit Breaker on the AC Fans, behind passenger seat....

Craig

[Shuttleman]

2073520736
Engine/gearbox and body removed. I also made a rack for my body panels.

[DMCMW Dave]

My guess is a bad connection or weak Circuit Breaker on the AC Fans, behind passenger seat....

Craig

Circuit breaker does not power the compressor.

[DMC81]

2073520736
Engine/gearbox and body removed. I also made a rack for my body panels.

Looks like you have everything well organized and tidy, looks good.:wrenchin:

[Silverbullet]

Circuit breaker does not power the compressor.

Guessing he did not REALLY know it the compressor shut off... You have to get out, lift louvers, lift engine cover... and look at clutch... I guess it was just no cold air...

Craig

[Shuttleman]

My torsion bars had been tempered with and you could see that a hex bit that was too short was used before because it was difficult to drive my hex bit all the way in.

When I tried to back off the splined bracket I realized it was stuck on the bar. I then had to make a puller that fit on the hex bit and extension because it had to be pulled while someone was holding the torsion bar tension.

Looking at the splines you can see that they are twisted and tapered.The twist is due to the splined being engaged half way and the taper seems to come from torquing with hex bit not all the way in and probably not the right size too.

Now is there a way to improve the splines on my torsion bars, the bracket will go in only with hydraulic press.
2073820739

[Shuttleman]

Just be prepared - you will eventually run into one where some idiot didn't put the Allen bit in all the way, overtorqued the door, and expanded the head of the torsion bar. This locks the bar into the clamp, which you can't release due to the window glass. That's when things get pretty exciting. And you'll wish you had a helper or two.

The other things you will find - stripped retainer bolts, cross-threaded weld nuts, un-welded weld nuts, etc. There area some pretty bad prior-owners out there.

That is exactly my problem! Got the welded nut too and also a big hole in the roof beam to weld that nut that cut a bit of the fiberglass underneath!!

Bravo!

[Bitsyncmaster]

My torsion bars had been tempered with and you could see that a hex bit that was too short was used before because it was difficult to drive my hex bit all the way in.

When I tried to back off the splined bracket I realized it was stuck on the bar. I then had to make a puller that fit on the hex bit and extension because it had to be pulled while someone was holding the torsion bar tension.

Looking at the splines you can see that they are twisted and tapered.The twist is due to the splined being engaged half way and the taper seems to come from torquing with hex bit not all the way in and probably not the right size too.

Now is there a way to improve the splines on my torsion bars, the bracket will go in only with hydraulic press.
2073820739

That spline twist does not look bad. Think I saw about the same on my car. Maybe just cleaning any burs off the bar and bracket will let it slide back on. I did buy new brackets for my car but I think the old ones would have worked fine.

[Shuttleman]

That's because it's hard to see from the picture, I tried to press the bracket in and out a few times but I'mis still far from being able to slide it by hand.
2075420755

[Farrar]

Went to a little meet-and-greet with some local owners.

Well, 66% local.

20756

20757

20758

[Silverbullet]

That's because it's hard to see from the picture, I tried to press the bracket in and out a few times but I'mis still far from being able to slide it by hand.
2075420755

I would use a small jewlers diamond file, clean it up as best as you can, untill it slides on...

Craig

[DavidProehl]

Installed some Infinity 32.9cf speakers I bought off eBay to replace the Craig speakers in the front. The 32.9cf speakers are no longer being made, but are fantastic. Huge improvement! The original Craig radio has no problem powering them.

I'll need to replace the rears as well, but those are harder to get to, is there a good "How To" on that? I've seen one off posts about using a heat gun or exacto knife to remove the rear panels, but no specific directions. Ideally I'd like to use a heat gun since I don't like the idea of cutting into the panels, but I've heard they don't reattach very well after being heated. Not sure if that is true or not.

[DMCMW Dave]

....... Ideally I'd like to use a heat gun since I don't like the idea of cutting into the panels, but I've heard they don't reattach very well after being heated. Not sure if that is true or not.

Heat them. Whatever you do, don't cut them, they cannot be repaired. I don't know who is giving out the exacto knife info but they should be slapped.

They reattach just fine after heating, and the original glue will actually still adhere (and the weather-strip holds it together).

[DavidProehl]

Heat them. Whatever you do, don't cut them, they cannot be repaired. I don't know who is giving out the exacto knife info but they should be slapped.

They reattach just fine after heating, and the original glue will actually still adhere (and the weather-strip holds it together).

Thanks Dave! I figured as much. The thought of cutting into an unavailable part seemed like blasphemy. Is it just a matter of careful heating once the parcel shelf, seats, weather stripping, and anything else in the way is removed?

[Tillsy]

Thanks Dave! I figured as much. The thought of cutting into an unavailable part seemed like blasphemy. Is it just a matter of careful heating once the parcel shelf, seats, weather stripping, and anything else in the way is removed?

You only need remove the weather stripping, around four screws (one top and three-ish at bottom), and the seatbelt bolt cover.

[DeLorean03]

I installed SMD LEDs in the passenger's footwell. Here's some pictures of the passenger's side (driver's side will get done later this weekend).

First, a picture with references as to how I wired it up. I utilized male spades on the LED hot (red) and ground (black) wires, then used female tee-taps to tap into the respect wires. Once done, I simply connected the male ends into the female tee-taps.

20775

Here are the SMD LEDs I used.

20774

And here is the final product!

20773

Just to clarify, and maybe this is just for me, the door switches are nothing more than a "broken ground." For each door switch, there are two wires. One is a dedicated ground (black), the other is a wire waiting to connect the dedicated ground to the rest of the circuit for when the door is opened (purple/white on passenger side, purple and blue on driver side I think). The door switch simply breaks the circuit when the door is closed. When the door is open, the switch closes, the ground is completed across both wires, the circuit is now complete, and the door lights turn on. That's it in a nutshell.

Video for those interested:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrUWXiUnBC0&feature=youtu.be

And for what I used as LEDs:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121140252970?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

[Tillsy]

Been flat out every day/night working on my D over the past couple of months, but mostly revolving around a project that I'll detail later.

Last night/today was something more generic though. The Wings-A-Loft default is to flash the parks - I'm not sure if that is a US thing but here in Australia we flash the indicators when arming, disarming, and alarming.

To that end I cut into the two indicator feeds, installed a couple of diodes (so that I don't introduce a loopback and cause directionals to now be hazards), and then fed the Compustar into that.

Should have been a trivial exercise but, as always, the smallest of jobs end up being a pain in the ass... 3.5 hours later and now my arming, disarming, and alarming flash the indicators.

Nobody else will notice or give a rats since that's just the way one would expect them to operate down here, but I'm happy :)

Now back to my other project...

[jawn101]

Heat them. Whatever you do, don't cut them, they cannot be repaired. I don't know who is giving out the exacto knife info but they should be slapped.

They reattach just fine after heating, and the original glue will actually still adhere (and the weather-strip holds it together).

Dave, please find my PO and administer that slap. My drivers side panel was cut away in exactly the wrong way when I got it :(

[MML]

This was long overdue, I got tired of looking at the faded finish so I sprayed them with Simoniz Tough Black. Turned out pretty well!
Still need to do the silver/grey bits.

http://i.imgur.com/w0TmSEn.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/oA0hvTH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/nzFanER.jpg

[DMC81]

[QUOTE=DeLorean03;113903]I installed SMD LEDs in the passenger's footwell. Here's some pictures of the passenger's side (driver's side will get done later this weekend).

First, a picture with references as to how I wired it up. I utilized male spades on the LED hot (red) and ground (black) wires, then used female tee-taps to tap into the respect wires. Once done, I simply connected the male ends into the female tee-taps.

20775

Here are the SMD LEDs I used.

20774

And here is the final product!

20773

I really like how that looks, good job! May have to consider doing this down the road.

[Farrar]

Checked the pressure in the a/c system. Static pressure at about 84°F ambient temperature was circa 100 PSI. This is good news.

Replaced the steering column bushing. Well, I say "replaced." There was no bushing. I installed Toby Peterson's Delrin bushing. It's awesome. I sprayed it with a little silicone lubricant and pulled it in with a nut and bolt, some washers, a socket, and a flat wrench. Someone once told me replacing the steering column bushing is a one-man job, but I certainly could not have done it without help.

Toby's steering column bushing is so awesome that I can't wait to install his sway bar bushings.

Along with putting the knee pads back in with wing nuts and lock washers instead of nylocs, I think buying a steering wheel puller was one of the smartest things I've ever done. After expecting the worst, I had the steering wheel off in five minutes.

[Kenny_Z]

This was long overdue, I got tired of looking at the faded finish so I sprayed them with Simoniz Tough Black. Turned out pretty well!
Still need to do the silver/grey bits.


It's looking really good.

[Farrar]

I took it to the filling station and dumped in 9.something gallons of ethanol-free explosive fluid. Contrary to what everyone has ever told me about re-fueling a DeLorean, it did not turn into a car show. Another car pulled up between the two DeLoreans, and its driver got out and started filling the tank without saying a word.

[MML]

I took it to the filling station and dumped in 9.something gallons of ethanol-free explosive fluid. Contrary to what everyone has ever told me about re-fueling a DeLorean, it did not turn into a car show. Another car pulled up between the two DeLoreans, and its driver got out and started filling the tank without saying a word.

Heh, in contrast I had three people come up to me today while refueling on the way home from a show.

[Farrar]

Heh, in contrast I had three people come up to me today while refueling on the way home from a show.

Maybe it's where I live. Maybe I just look unfriendly?

[dvonk]

Maybe I just look unfriendly?

it was that butterfly knife you were flipping around.

[nullset]

Removed the cracked original radiator from 2072.
Removed the upgraded metal radiator from 2930.
Installed the upgraded metal radiator from 2930 into 2072.

Anyone know if the old radiators with the plastic sides can be rebuilt? The radiator itself is fine, but the plastic sides need to be replaced.

[BABIS]

Anyone know if the old radiators with the plastic sides can be rebuilt? The radiator itself is fine, but the plastic sides need to be replaced.

a friend of mine have removed the plastic sides and welded metal boxes with the original shape..

[JohnZ]

Maybe it's where I live. Maybe I just look unfriendly?

Maybe he was a Delorean owner too!

[Farrar]

Maybe he was a Delorean owner too!

There must be thousands of DeLoreans where I live, then, not being driven.

...which, when you think of it, is kind of sad.

[Farrar]

Added air to the tires. Adjusted ignition timing. Cleaned it with Windex. Went on a test drive. Adjusted the steering wheel. Enjoyed the air conditioning. Noticed my seat gets warm on drives. Wondering if the seat belt warning light wires got pinched underneath it.

[Rich]

Sorted a circuit board problem on the left taillight cluster - now both of the brake lamps on that side operate again instead of only one. To match the two on the right.

And tended to an intermittent sticky throttle at idle. All fixed. Seems to bind up a bit every 4-5 years.

[OverlandMan]

Sorted a circuit board problem on the left taillight cluster - now both of the brake lamps on that side operate again instead of only one. To match the two on the right.

And tended to an intermittent sticky throttle at idle. All fixed. Seems to bind up a bit every 4-5 years.

What did you do to unstick it? Curious as mine sticks occasionally too a bit.

[Rich]

What did you do to unstick it? Curious as mine sticks occasionally too a bit.

Engine off and cool.

Sprayed brake cleaner via a long, thin plastic nozzle on the (dirty) throttle return spring, the one attached to the intake manifold, not the throttle quadrant spring where the throttle cable is wrapped. Also directed the spray between the coils of that spring so as to also clean the throttle shaft beneath. Did not spray the idle microswitch.

I first verified that the intermittent friction problem occurred even with the pedal/cable/quadrant disconnected (detach the throttle link at the quadrant). In this case it was therefore only due to something grabbing downstream from the link occasionally.

No lube was applied. And nothing got adjusted. Runs nice, like it did a week ago. Took less than 10 minutes. And the engine is a bit cleaner now!

[DeLorean03]

This:

20908

As well as this:

20909

[jackb]

Drove it for the first time in 3 months. The A/C is dead and being in Arizona, it's kiiind of necessary. I got up super early this AM before it got brutally hot out and brought it to a shop recommended on the AZ-D.org forum, about 90 miles away. It's still there now.

[papanoel]

picked up from the shop yesterday. new brake fluids and brake bleeding was done (car actually stops properly now). They kept it under another car outside so it got super dusty and grimy. Took it to get hand washed. The guys got a kick out of washing a delorean and they did a fantastic job.

20914

[Lenny]

[QUOTE=papanoel;114687]Took it to get hand washed. The guys got a kick out of washing a delorean and they did a fantastic job.



There is a car wash near the house I take it there to "Prewash" before going to a show. however, the kids love working on it and do such a good job I have not had to detail it afterward. I tip the kid 20 or 30 bucks for everything he does he works for about 45 min to an hour on it. The management likes it because when its there people slow down and some have pulled in to get the car washed just to see the delorean.

[papanoel]

[QUOTE=papanoel;114687]Took it to get hand washed. The guys got a kick out of washing a delorean and they did a fantastic job.



There is a car wash near the house I take it there to "Prewash" before going to a show. however, the kids love working on it and do such a good job I have not had to detail it afterward. I tip the kid 20 or 30 bucks for everything he does he works for about 45 min to an hour on it. The management likes it because when its there people slow down and some have pulled in to get the car washed just to see the delorean.

Yeah they all came out and were happy to wash it. 45 minute hand wash on the exterior. They went with the grain and looked like new. 20 bucks and definitely a lot of stares from other clients and passerby's.

[Farrar]

Drove it to work.

Drove it to lunch.

Drove it back to work.

Drove it home.

8)

[refugeefromcalif]

Drove it home.

8)

Straight? Or Did you take the Long way home? :driving1:

:)

George

[Hokie]

Well I just drive mine for the first time in a week, and some little white spider had build a web all over the interior! So today I cleaned out spider web and killed me a spider in the process. Yuck!

[Rich]

"Installed" the replacement trunk carpet from DMC. That is, I pulled the OEM one out and set the new one in place. This is the opposite of replacing the clutch master wrt degree of difficulty.

Very good value, fits well and looks great.

[Farrar]

Timed spark per Volvo spec (10° BTDC @ 750RPM with spark advance line removed/capped) and went for a drive.

Blower motor quit about 30 minutes in. Circuit breaker and motor are less than 3 years old. Checked Fuse #10: it has less than 7 volts running through it! Uh oh!

Changed ATF and oil.

The car marked its territory. Another British oil spill...

[DMC5180]

Timed spark per Volvo spec (10° BTDC @ 750RPM with spark advance line removed/capped) and went for a drive.

So why did you deviate from the 13˚ +/-- 2˚ BTDC factory spec? shits & giggles or what.

[Farrar]

So why did you deviate from the 13˚ +/-- 2˚ BTDC factory spec? shits & giggles or what.

Sheer laziness. I had the Volvo manual with me. The DMC manual was upstairs.

FWIW, the only reason I was adjusting the timing was because the engine was idling (in my opinion) poorly. It did improve the idle. I have yet to see if it has affected performance in any other way. Fortunately, I keep a 10mm socket, tach, vacuum caps, and timing light with me on all of my test drives. ;)

[DMC5180]

Sheer laziness. I had the Volvo manual with me. The DMC manual was upstairs.

Funny, the timing specs are on the Right side decal under the engine cover. (If you still have the decal)

Try tweaking your Idle air mixture screw when the timing is set back at 13. If the engine smoothes out but (increases rpm) while turning left or right (depends on which side of peak mixture you are at) you will need to reset your Idle RPM. Generally speaking, you want find peak idle rpm mixture then Richen slightly. When the idle drops about 30 rpm from peak, reset your idle to 750. See how that works for you.

[Farrar]

Funny, the timing specs are on the Right side decal under the engine cover. (If you still have the decal)

I used acetone to clean up some overspray once. Guess what it did to the ink on the sticker. LOL

I have a Volvo ignition distributor, so I think Volvo ignition timing should be OK. Anyway, I'll test drive it tomorrow and see what happens. Thanks for the suggestions! I'll keep them in my pocket. :)

[Farrar]

Today, I traced a problem with low voltage in the HVAC system to insufficient contact on the supply terminal to the blower motor circuit breaker. Terminal was secure but had been pulled a bit over the years. Replaced all four press-on terminals with ring terminals.

Tightened the bolts/nuts that hold the compressor to the bracket.

Found the glovebox lid and sun visors. Next, to find the screws... the sunshade won't stay in without the visors... :P

[jawn101]

Drove it around a bit at sunrise, just for the fun of it. Had a surprise visit from Clint and talked shop for a while. His car gets nicer all the time!

[papanoel]

My dad drove the car over from our garage went out to meet him as he was parking car in the street. saw smoke spewing from the engine and then saw all the coolant vomit onto the the street below the car.

fun times.

car overheated. he hadnt been paying attention to the temp gauge.

Turns out the the belt for the alternator got ripped to shreds. so cooling pump wasn't working either.

We just had new alternator installed last week. We think they put it on too tightly or wasn't aligned properly. went to autozone got a new belt and antifreeze. removed other belt too. put both belts back on. taking it tomorrow to the auto shop make sure the belts are on tightly and aligned. looking forward to giving them an earful for screwing it up.

So glad it happened as car was parked and not in middle of the street or highway.

[jawn101]

My dad drove the car over from our garage went out to meet him as he was parking car in the street. saw smoke spewing from the engine and then saw all the coolant vomit onto the the street below the car.

fun times.

car overheated. he hadnt been paying attention to the temp gauge.

Turns out the the belt for the alternator got ripped to shreds. so cooling pump wasn't working either.

We just had new alternator installed last week. We think they put it on too tightly or wasn't aligned properly. went to autozone got a new belt and antifreeze. removed other belt too. put both belts back on. taking it tomorrow to the auto shop make sure the belts are on tightly and aligned. looking forward to giving them an earful for screwing it up.

So glad it happened as car was parked and not in middle of the street or highway.

Ouch. Sorry to hear it!

[papanoel]

its squealing now so either not enough tension or not aligned.

what size belt is recommended for use with alternator?

[jawn101]

Depends which alternator you have. Some details here but maybe not exactly what you're looking for. I don't remember the OEM belt size.

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?t=7249

[papanoel]

Depends which alternator you have. Some details here but maybe not exactly what you're looking for. I don't remember the OEM belt size.

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?t=7249


I have herveys d120 alternator. belt he sent was too big though.

and we put in 11AV1245 which was the one that was in there with original 90amp alternator.
Its seems to be too lose as well though. making noise.

[jawn101]

I have herveys d120 alternator. belt he sent was too big though.

and we put in 11AV1245 which was the one that was in there with original 90amp alternator.
Its seems to be too lose as well though. making noise.

Try the Gates 7485 (that's the actual part number) - which is a 10A1230

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/GATA/7485.oap

[Conundrum]

A couple days ago I was changing the fuel filter. As I was attempting to remove the fuel line that goes to the fuel dist. the end of it snapped off! :banghead: So now, I'm waiting for a new line to show up.

[Jack]

A few months back I stripped and sanded the front and back fascias.
I decided to keep them flat / bare urethane black.
That way I don't have to worry about paint, plus I like the look.
I spent the weekend dying them with forever black.
2100221003

[Domi]

The result is nice :)

[pezzonovante88]

Took the car for a good blast on some country backroads for the first time in a while. I love my custom exhaust - it makes the car feel/sound so much sportier and exotic when I wind it out. I also really enjoy the tall gearing - second and third gears suffice through the windy roads without nearing redline and it gives you the chance to feel the smooth acceleration without having to shift so much. It may not accelerate to 60mph as fast as other cars, but it really has very satisfying power delivery for mid-speed b-road touring. Lots of fun. 5875 now sleeps for the night under her cover in the garage. :sleep:

[papanoel]

yep so that belt didnt' last long. had to get it towed to the garage. will figure it out tomorrow.

someone on instagram took a video of it getting loaded on

http://distilleryimage11.s3.amazonaws.com/a1e2c7cafe1511e2a42522000a1f96b3_101.mp4

[Farrar]

Drove it to work this morning. Ambient temperature was 85°F, heat index was 97°F. Figured it'd be a good workout for the a/c. Had to turn it down to speed 2 because I was getting too cold! :woot:

I do need to put that foam on the evaporator box, though... my passenger floormat was wet from the dripping condensation after the half-hour drive.

[jawn101]

Drove it to work this morning. Ambient temperature was 85°F, heat index was 97°F. Figured it'd be a good workout for the a/c. Had to turn it down to speed 2 because I was getting too cold! :woot:

I do need to put that foam on the evaporator box, though... my passenger floormat was wet from the dripping condensation after the half-hour drive.

Congrats man :)

I'm starting to think I need to get my system professionally flushed and re-filled. I rebuilt it a few years ago, replaced everything but the evaporator and condenser and it works and blows cold, but I never have that "meat locker, turn it down" experience.

Weird since I've measured the vent temps at 30 degrees before. I wonder what the deal is.

[Ron]

Insulated Evaporator Box discussion moved to HERE (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?7843-Insulated-Evaporator-Box-***-SPLIT-From-What-have-you-done-to-your-D-today-**)

[Farrar]

Drove it to work this morning. Ambient temperature was 85°F, heat index was 97°F. Figured it'd be a good workout for the a/c. Had to turn it down to speed 2 because I was getting too cold! :woot:

No more happy-dance emoticons for me. They jinx my a/c system.

Also on the way home, I experienced strangeness stomping on the gas from a stop, and an idle speed which got lower and lower and lower...

If this is what happens when I talk about my car's air conditioning, I will never mention how it would hold up in a crash.

[jmpdmc]

Today I did 2 little mentioned tasks on the car. After I reseated a CSV wire that had come loose from the connector, I replaced the charcoal canister filter. I cross referenced a Wix filter 42998 which matches the OEM exactly. Here are some photos: 2104621042210432104421045 The first picture shows the new filter on the left with the OEM on the right. The new one is slightly bent from being in the box but it is the same size as the OEM in diameter and thickness. The third picture shows the canister removed from the pontoon with the hose and bottom removed--shown in next photo. Final picture is new filter in place.

The second project was first described to me by Josh at DPI. My engine cover grates sometimes rattled and he told me that they use 3M tape on the grate brackets to help silence them. I sourced some double sided foam adhesive coated tape number 5952 which required no real trimming: 21047210482104921050 It seems like it should work great but I have not driven yet to check. The grates are silent if they are pushed on from above. The third picture shows how much I have left. Anybody want to buy some?


Jeff

[MML]

Washed the car and noticed some water on the passenger floor mat, dripping out of the blower motor.

GOD DAMMIT

[vwdmc16]

Changed out my failed plastic tanked radiator for a good used all brass one, installed all nee clamps and swapped the straight hose sections with silicon tube. Went for a test drive and got pulled over. Police didn't like that i have no front plate but let me off and i let them take a picture with the car.

[jawn101]

Changed out my failed plastic tanked radiator for a good used all brass one, installed all nee clamps and swapped the straight hose sections with silicon tube. Went for a test drive and got pulled over. Police didn't like that i have no front plate but let me off and i let them take a picture with the car.

Ha - you have the best luck with the cops. Glad the radiator worked out for you.

[Kenny_Z]

Car show :D

http://24.media.tumblr.com/1221acbfedd22c10cf73bb842211d2c1/tumblr_mrce5x3ULI1rdjq2mo1_1280.jpg
http://24.media.tumblr.com/0e50657afae8f8236e00c7754bc434f9/tumblr_mrce5x3ULI1rdjq2mo2_1280.jpg

Yeah, still haven't installed the passenger side weatherstripping.

[pezzonovante88]

I took 5875 for a drive. I parked it for about half an hour. When I went to start the car I experienced my first hot-start issue. I finally got it going, but it took a lot of cranking. Will have to be sorted sooner than later.

[dustybarn]

Took a nice 25-mile drive to deliver my wife's chainsaw to one of her coworkers, who was cutting up a fallen tree. Got a magnificent gawk from a sheriff's deputy on the way home.

And then I went to fuel up and get gas for my mower. A shabby-looking fellow carrying a 12-pack came out of the attached convenience store and said, "That's a 'Lorean, ain't it? Ain't seen onna them in a long time".

[DavidProehl]

Changed out my failed plastic tanked radiator for a good used all brass one, installed all nee clamps and swapped the straight hose sections with silicon tube. Went for a test drive and got pulled over. Police didn't like that i have no front plate but let me off and i let them take a picture with the car.

Unbelievable! I've driven by countless cops, even talked to one at a gas station, but none seemed to have a problem with my lack of front plate. Glad the radiator is working for you!

[TheSmokingMan]

Unbelievable! I've driven by countless cops, even talked to one at a gas station, but none seemed to have a problem with my lack of front plate. Glad the radiator is working for you!

I've been pulled over 3 times for no front tag (Twice in one day!). I got tired of it and reluctantly put the front tag on even though it ruins the look of the front end. Just isn't worth the hassle.

[DeLorean03]

Started install of this:

21123

Improved the gear selector lighting:

21124

Adjusted my new clock's face so all 4 digits are now visible:

21125

And took my car from this:

21126

Back to this:

21127

Got 2 rear speakers and some wiring still to do for the new head unit:

21128

[DeLorean03]

Getting closer ...


21141
21142
21143
21145
21140
21144

[Josh]

Adjusting the doors after putting them on. Not a fun time!

[Josh]

Getting closer ...


21141


This scares me...

[Jonathan]

Also on the way home, I experienced strangeness stomping on the gas from a stop, and an idle speed which got lower and lower and lower...

Did you get this addressed already, Farrar?

The part you described as "strangeness stomping on the gas from a stop" sounds to me like the adjustable linkage going between the throttle spool and the lever arm on the butterfly valves needs to be shortened/lengthened. Something along these lines happened to me on my car and it was at least partly related to the linkage having too much slack in it. It's not the easiest thing in the world to adjust, but not too terribly difficult. If you can get away with doing a full 360 degree length adjustment (by dialing in/out the one end a complete revolution) you can avoid getting in further and disconnecting both ends. Being able to adjust both ends though is likely the better way to go to get it right.

[DeLorean03]

This scares me...

I keep forgetting everyone else doesn't already know..... the previous owner had already damaged the vinyl siding before I ever got my car. A blessing because it makes this job way easier, but a curse in terms of visual qualities.

[Jonathan]

Wasn't convinced this needed it's own thread, although maybe in some sort of "useful tips and tricks" one...

A while back I was amazed at how good cobalt drill bits were. Something else came to mind recently that is far more simple:

A good flashlight.

May seem obvious, but I have been amazed at what you can notice on your own car when you have good lighting. The flashlight I got using not long ago is nothing fancy, it's just one of those LED pocket sized ones. But boy is it bright. And the light is more of that white type of light and not the dull yellow typical stuff from your lights in the ceiling of the garage.

For knowing most everything on my car after 6 years, it is amazing what you can see for the first time when you have good lighting. Even areas like peering into little cracks between the trim and stainless, or down the A/C vents, or behind and up and under the dash, or into the rear vents on the back quarters.

Just wanted to mention that because bumbling around in poor lighting makes things so much tougher than they need to be on these cars. And if we get frustrated enough drilling out rusty fittings, it sure isn't any easier if you can't see what you're doing :)

[Patrick C]

I re-attached my stainless T-Panel, and made a strong attempt to realign my passenger door. The driver side is absolutely PERFECT and has been since I aligned my doors this winter. I can close it with a pinky finger and it stays closed and does not leak. The passenger side has always needed a little more effort and my passengers often aren't strong enough to close it on the first try.

So, I used the previously discussed door alignment method. I removed the striker pin, loosened the hinges, made sure the door was shutting well, then I slowly tightened the hinges, making sure the door still was shutting well. I ended up grinding out the infill panel around the rear striker so that the striker pin could sit back further (commonplace on all later DeLoreans) and ended up grinding down the tip of the striker pin and chamfering the edges. I also ground down a little bit of the stainless door guides.

When snugging down the striker pins, they tend to move up, down, left, or right. This will have you cursing like me.

The KEY THING to remember when adjusting the striker pins is that every fraction of an inch will throw things off. I used Warren Wallingford's method after wasting hours of my time. Warren's method involves tightening down the pins almost all the way, then smacking them with a hammer to slowly nudge them into to correct location. Once you are there, then snug the striker down the rest of the way. Trust me, this makes things much easier!

To make a long story short, after many years I can now close my passenger door with one finger. It isn't quite as perfect as the driver side, but I think it is as good as it will ever get! Here is video proof!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7HnlN-GmSM

[Jonathan]

Here is video proof!

Nice! Looks pretty effortless (...put some clothes on!! lol)

[Patrick C]

Nice! Looks pretty effortless (...put some clothes on!! lol)

Haha! I was taking breaks from adjusting doors to go sit on the beach and jetski. Tough life! :)

[Josh]

I re-attached my stainless T-Panel, and made a strong attempt to realign my passenger door. The driver side is absolutely PERFECT and has been since I aligned my doors this winter. I can close it with a pinky finger and it stays closed and does not leak. The passenger side has always needed a little more effort and my passengers often aren't strong enough to close it on the first try.

So, I used the previously discussed door alignment method. I removed the striker pin, loosened the hinges, made sure the door was shutting well, then I slowly tightened the hinges, making sure the door still was shutting well. I ended up grinding out the infill panel around the rear striker so that the striker pin could sit back further (commonplace on all later DeLoreans) and ended up grinding down the tip of the striker pin and chamfering the edges. I also ground down a little bit of the stainless door guides.

When snugging down the striker pins, they tend to move up, down, left, or right. This will have you cursing like me.

The KEY THING to remember when adjusting the striker pins is that every fraction of an inch will throw things off. I used Warren Wallingford's method after wasting hours of my time. Warren's method involves tightening down the pins almost all the way, then smacking them with a hammer to slowly nudge them into to correct location. Once you are there, then snug the striker down the rest of the way. Trust me, this makes things much easier!

To make a long story short, after many years I can now close my passenger door with one finger. It isn't quite as perfect as the driver side, but I think it is as good as it will ever get! Here is video proof!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7HnlN-GmSM


So if i drive to your house will you fix my doors? hahaha. I am going to keep picking away at mine. The problem with mine is there are many more variables in play. The door shells have been swapped so I am tinkering with lock and latch adjustments. Also, the hinge bolts need to be tweaked as well. The exterior door handle cable is causing issues as well.