Finally, I Own A DeLorean!

[pezzonovante88]

Just got back from an 8 hour journey after picking up my new DeLorean. Formerly owned by Andy G. (DMCNY). Honestly though, it hasn't 'sunk-in' quite yet. Just glad to be home with a real, actual DeLorean in my garage.
Unfortunately the beautifully clean underbody will need a clean up as well as the rest of the car as we hit some nasty weather on the way home. A few issues with the car that I thought I'd mention all in one thread that perhaps some of you may be able to offer some expertise on:

-The doors are finicky. The driver's door lock doesn't quite seem to be "clicking" as I would think it should. Its just a bit of a guessing game to open the thing. The passenger door is nearly impossible to close tightly. We have to slam it, wiggle it, push it. Pain in the ASS!
-A bit of a leak on the top front of the passenger door in heavier rain.
-Annoying 'rev-hunting' at idle. I really would like to get this one solved.
-The steering wheel is a bit jiggly at around 60-70mph, but not too bad really.
-The speedo/odometer quit mid-trip. The angle drive was just replaced so I don't see how that could cause the problem. I heard some strange rattling sounds coming from the gauge cluster before it stopped working.
-No rear-view mirror (windshield). What should I use to attach one?

There are a number of very minor sorts of things that aren't a big deal, but the above are what I'd like to address promptly. The most pressing issues for me are the doors and the idle, and the speedo/odometer

On the good side, the car looks freakin' awesome! Its a blast to drive - not terribly fast - but certainly peppy enough. Oddly, I wasn't really concerned about how fast I could accelerate in it. There were too many other visceral distractions to enjoy. What a ride its been!

[dn010]

Congratulations! Most of the above is easily fixed. The speedo quitting could be a broken cable or - even if the drive was replaced it doesn't mean it didn't fail - just unscrew the cables at different points (the angle drive, the lamda, etc) and see if they spin by hand. I can't tell you about the rear view mirror, I'm not sure what kind of adhesive they use... As for the idle hunt, could be a simple CO adjustment, but wait until others chime in. Again congrats, and enjoy!

[jawn101]

Congrats!! Pics? VIN? :)

Very exciting stuff.

[Cory W]

Well done! Welcome to our madness!

Make sure you're "in the loop" with the Ontario DeLorean Owner's Club (ODOC). Find us on Facebook, and check out www.odoc.ca

We have a tech day coming up soon enough (June), which should be able to take care of anything we haven't been able to help you with to that point.

Quick answers:

-It would not hurt to remove the door panels and do a door latch/lock adjustment. The process is in the online shop manual. I had a how-to on the .com site to remove panels, which I'll need to put back up.
-Leaks happen. It would help to trace where it's coming from in order to rectify. Methods differ based on where and how it's getting in.
-Car may need a mixture tune, but keep in mind that it's considered "common" for some idle hunt, particularly while the car is cold. Leave this for tech day. Trust me.
-A consistent wiggle at the same speed points me to alignment. Also look for any worn ball joints or tie rods.
-There are 6 different points in the speedo drive you can change:
>Dust Cap
>Angle Drive
>Drive to lower speedo cable
>lower speedo to LAMBDA counter
>counter to upper speedo cable
>upper cable to instrument panel

Any of those can cause a problem. Was there any work done there recently? Double check connections and see if things are turning.

-If there's no mirror, the vendor of your choice can help you. It will come with the application pad from the DMCH facilities. DO NOT use anything else. Windshields are costly!

[sean]

Absolutely awesome! Congrats on the find!

[Michael]

Congratulations!!! I know the feeling. The best is when you wake up tomorrow. For a split second you will think tonight was a dream, then you will realize it did happen!

[Chris Burns]

Congrats man! I knew that one was too good to pass up.:rock_on:

[Kukem]

Congrats on your new purchase! I bet your maiden voyage was awesome! Hope to experience it sometime myself.

[1batt4u]

Congrats!!! Have fun, enjoy!! I know Any from the Knight Rider forum as well!!

[Jonathan]

Congrats dude! Hope to meet you at an event this summer. Let us know what things come up as you tinker with the car.

I thought this would make for an interesting screen capture for your files. Neat to see the VIN in two different people's profiles at the same time. Your simple post of "PM sent" was pretty exciting afterall :)

8595

[SIMid]

Congrats and welcome to Delorean ownership! :)

Let the fun times begin! :lol:

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Congrats! The best thing is the next day when you go into your garage and see it there. Can't wait to see it at the tech day in June.

[Rich]

1 -The steering wheel is a bit jiggly at around 60-70mph, but not too bad really.

2 -No rear-view mirror (windshield). What should I use to attach one?


Welcome to D ownership after your long wait.

1. Get the wheels balanced to begin with, move on from there if necessary.
2. Inside rear view mirror attachment - there is a right way and a wrong way: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?368

[dvonk]

congratulations! i too will join the ranks eventually. :biggrin:

[micmak]

Congratulations! Will you be joining us in the St Paddy's Day parade in a few weeks? Exact details of our position and set up location is coming out in the next few days. One thing that came to mind about your list of little complaints is, while agree with one of the earlier posters about wheel balancing, I would look at your steering bushing too. It might be as simple as replacing it - an easy task. Trial and error is the only way to find out exactly where the water is getting in. Pour a little water from bottle in one area of the door jam, and see if it gets in. If not, move up to another spot and repeat. It's slow,but logical and quite accurate. Don't worry about the idle problem - we can sort it out at the Tech Day.
Contests again. Hope to see you soon.

......Mike......

[stevedmc]

-The speedo/odometer quit mid-trip. The angle drive was just replaced so I don't see how that could cause the problem.

Welcome to the nightmare.

[MartyP]

Welcome to another D in Canada.

[micmak]

Congratulations! Will you be joining us in the St Paddy's Day parade in a few weeks? Exact details of our position and set up location is coming out in the next few days. One thing that came to mind about your list of little complaints is, while agree with one of the earlier posters about wheel balancing, I would look at your steering bushing too. It might be as simple as replacing it - an easy task. Trial and error is the only way to find out exactly where the water is getting in. Pour a little water from bottle in one area of the door jam, and see if it gets in. If not, move up to another spot and repeat. It's slow,but logical and quite accurate. Don't worry about the idle problem - we can sort it out at the Tech Day.
Contests again. Hope to see you soon.

......Mike......



CONGRATS again!! :mad: That should say: Congrats. Don't you hate iPad's spell checker??? The damned thing has a mind of it's own!


......Mike......

[sdg3205]

Every D. we bring to Canada is a step towards better marque recognition in this country!

I remember pictures of that car, it looked fantastic! In a way, you should be happy there are some things you'll need to address. Those are the things that allow you to get to know and understand your car and feel more confident about driving it around. It's very fulfilling and enjoyable. Grab some timbits, a large double-double or some beer and have a go at it!

You rock!

[pezzonovante88]

Well done! Welcome to our madness!




-A consistent wiggle at the same speed points me to alignment. Also look for any worn ball joints or tie rods.
-There are 6 different points in the speedo drive you can change:
>Dust Cap
>Angle Drive
>Drive to lower speedo cable
>lower speedo to LAMBDA counter
>counter to upper speedo cable
>upper cable to instrument panel

Any of those can cause a problem. Was there any work done there recently? Double check connections and see if things are turning.



Before the speedo crapped-out, I heard some strange rattling noises coming from what sounded like the gauge cluster area in the binnacle. Hopefully its an easy fix.
As far as the steering wheel wobble, I imagine its an alignment issue as the front suspension was just reconditioned.
I will DEFINITELY be at the tech day and I'm REALLY looking forward to it!


Congratulations!!! I know the feeling. The best is when you wake up tomorrow. For a split second you will think tonight was a dream, then you will realize it did happen!

So true!


Congrats!!! Have fun, enjoy!! I know Any from the Knight Rider forum as well!!

Lol! He definitely loves Knight Rider!


Congrats dude! Hope to meet you at an event this summer. Let us know what things come up as you tinker with the car.

I thought this would make for an interesting screen capture for your files. Neat to see the VIN in two different people's profiles at the same time. Your simple post of "PM sent" was pretty exciting afterall :)

8595

Ohhh! That's awesome! I plan on being at as many events as I can. Thanks man.


Congratulations! Will you be joining us in the St Paddy's Day parade in a few weeks? Exact details of our position and set up location is coming out in the next few days. One thing that came to mind about your list of little complaints is, while agree with one of the earlier posters about wheel balancing, I would look at your steering bushing too. It might be as simple as replacing it - an easy task. Trial and error is the only way to find out exactly where the water is getting in. Pour a little water from bottle in one area of the door jam, and see if it gets in. If not, move up to another spot and repeat. It's slow,but logical and quite accurate. Don't worry about the idle problem - we can sort it out at the Tech Day.
Contests again. Hope to see you soon.

......Mike......

Thanks Mike! The steering wheel bushing was just replaced, so its probably alignment and/or wheel balancing. Should be easy enough.

[Henrik]

I've had my D since 2006 and it still excites me to see it in the garage, to tinker with and of course to drive.

One of my highlights from 2011 was, after having completed a four year engine teardown (I readily admit that I didn't touch it for months on end sometimes, life gets in the way..), take off at four in the morning into the darkness and head for DMCH Open House in Houston. It was a 4-5 hour trip; may not seem like much but it was very gratifying. Nothing fell off, nothing broke it just kept on humming so I was extra proud that I had managed to complete the project correctly. Then there was of course the never ending thumbs up and picture taking by fellow motorists all the way there and back.

Welcome to the club! You'll love it :driving1:

[mluder]

-The doors are finicky. The driver's door lock doesn't quite seem to be "clicking" as I would think it should. Its just a bit of a guessing game to open the thing. The passenger door is nearly impossible to close tightly. We have to slam it, wiggle it, push it. Pain in the ASS!

Be careful with this - I would suggest disconnecting the door loack module in the compartment behind the passenger seat until you get things sorted out. I had a simmilar problem and got locked in my car when the lock wouldn't release. You can still lock the doors but you just have to do each manually - i.e. no relay between the two.


-A bit of a leak on the top front of the passenger door in heavier rain.

Not sure exactly what the leak pattern is but you may want to check the cloth headliner. The fabric wraps up over the door opening frame and is covered/held in place by the inner door seal. Sometimes, if the fabric is a little long it sticks past the seal on the outside and acts as a wick soaking up water and bringing it into the car. Just take a razor blade or shrp utility knife and cut it back a bit.

If that doesnt solve it then there was a service bulletin regarding adding sealant to various areas around the roof. Shouldn't be too hard to find the documentation.

[jawn101]

If that doesnt solve it then there was a service bulletin regarding adding sealant to various areas around the roof. Shouldn't be too hard to find the documentation.

And here you go! http://www.dmcnews.com/bulletins/ST-33-12.81.html

[Jeff K]

You'll laugh, you'll cry... you'll kiss your paycheck goodbye!

Just Kidding

Have fun and Congrats!

I got bit by the d-bug and ended up owning to of these things!

[micmak]

Wow. Just been checking out the pics of this car when it was for sale. REALLY nice! Looking forward to seeing it in person this year.

......Mike......

[mluder]

And here you go! http://www.dmcnews.com/bulletins/ST-33-12.81.html

See... I told you it would be easy to find. :o

[pezzonovante88]

See... I told you it would be easy to find. :o

That's for sure

[jawn101]

Lol, you're welcome. :) Enjoy!

[Mike Z]

Congratulations man!! I also took a look at the pics of this car when it was for sale, very beautiful car. Enjoy!