Front Recall Kit

[1batt4u]

Was wondering about the front recall kit.

If you guys can post pictures up from your car.

I take it the early cars, like mine 1981, did not come with it. Just the later models?

[eagle-co94]

1045 has it so I'm assuming it was added later. The car was purchased from DMCFL about a year ago.

[DavidProehl]

Not sure about at what vin they started installing the kit at the factory, but my car has had it since before I bought it. You asked for pictures, search for the word "recall" on this PDF and you'll see with and without photos of the recall kit (page 9): http://www.delorean.net/pdf/TIBGDA_web.pdf

[Jonathan]

There are a few other items included in the front end recall kit and you won't know for certain if they are installed only by looking for the presence of the reinforcing plates.

The kit will come with 4 castle nuts and 4 cotter pins for the front suspension. You can visually check if yours are there by peering in behind each front wheel. You might need to wipe off some filth, but it is fairly obvious once you get a look in there.

I know when I got my kit, the instructions that may have been included with it I believe was a copy of the original safety recall. I honestly didn't know what to do with the parts until I got to a local tech day and someone with experience gave me some help. My brackets were not yet installed, but the castle nuts and cotter pins already were. Moral of the story I guess is that your car might have part of the recall done, but not all of it. That and perhaps I'd love to get my hands on better instructions, sort of like the kind made for angle drive installs and the like.

Deice recall might be somewhat similar. The shield of course is obvious to everyone upon taking a quick look in your engine bay. There are however, more pieces in that kit than just the shield. This also I had no idea what to do with until having it mentioned to me from someone looking at a photo of my throttle cable assembly and noticing pieces missing. These were the 4 snap rings which help the end of your cable from getting snagged in the notch on the post of the assembly. There are also a couple other parts I still don't have installed and they need the cable to come right off to put them in. Again, instructions for this might have been the original safety recall, but I would love to get my hands on a more user friendly version (like with big photos and perhaps some cartoons! :) )

[Mark D]

One other thing to note on the ball joint nuts recall... it might not necessarily be a castle nut and a cotter pin that you'll see if the recall has been done. Depending on who did the retrofit often times they would drill a hole through the existing nyloc nut and drive in a roll pin. This accomplished the same goal as the castle nut and was less time consuming to do. You should also have yellow or red paint splotches on your steering knuckle at the top and bottom to indicate the recall has been performed.

[David T]

The recall was SC-03-1/82 and covered vin 560 to 7199 at which point the factory did them. If it was done there should be a spot of blue paint on the firewall in front of the motor to the left of the engine cover stay brace. By now it is rare to see a car which has not had the recall done. If this recall was not done you should check ALL of the recalls and service bulletins for compliance. All of the venders offer the book on recalls and service bulletins.
David Teitelbaum

[Rich]

You should also have yellow or red paint splotches on your steering knuckle at the top and bottom to indicate the recall has been performed.

Our very early car (<1000 VIN) did get the castle nut retrofit both sides and they were painted, all done by the dealer. BUT it did not get the frame extension brackets so I had to add them later.

The point is you have to look to see what's missing - and it is easy to look to be sure everything is correct and safe.

[DMCMW Dave]

By now it is rare to see a car which has not had the recall done. I

I'm honestly surprised how many we see that don't have it already installed.

[DeLorean]

2638 Did NOT have it till I installed it sometime last year.

[OverlandMan]

I'm glad this was posted w/ a link including visual aides. I just went and check 5482. She's got this recall completed. Nice to know for sure now!

[jmettee]

When I got my car it had 40k miles....& none of the recalls done to it. I always had wondered why my car never had any paint spots in the engine bay after I saw others....until I learned what they represented.

[BABIS]

during the 80's the various factory recall were free or not?
if they were free I cannot understand why a lot of original owners didn't do them..

[Rich]

during the 80's the various factory recall were free or not?

The recalls were free for as long as the dealers were offering them. Which was not for very long since after DMC dissolved the dealers could not expect labor reimbursement from the manufacturer. Afterward they could still do the work at no charge or charge the customer for it.

[Jonathan]

during the 80's the various factory recall were free or not?
if they were free I cannot understand why a lot of original owners didn't do them..

81 and part of 82, yes. The decade of the 80s, no. I think after the company went tits up, not too many service shops would be keen on doing anything for "free" to the customer, when head office is no longer around to reimburse them. Not to mention that any of those cars that never had owners up to that point, wouldn't have had someone keeping them in tip top shape. Yet if you bought your car a few months earlier, managed to get a recall letter in the mail, you might not have been in a rush to get it done as you wouldn't have known the company was imminently about to go out of business. Hard to say really. Maybe another feather in the cap for values of later cars, assuming they had more of the recalls and improvements done by people that knew what they were doing.

EDIT: What Rich said :)

[David T]

Between the dealers being worried about getting reimbursed for the labor and the unavailability of the recall kits it is not surprising many did not get the recall done. In the intervening years I would expect most finally did get the recall done, of course, at the owner's expense. The front recall is not the only one. Probably the most important one but the others are necessary too. Any new owner should check and get them done if they have not been. Other things to check/upgrade include:
Replace the header tank with a metal one
Get an upgraded cooling fan relay (Joe Cool, Fanzilla, etc)
Get the relay upgrade kit
Check/replace the TAB's
David Teitelbaum

[Boxbot]

At the recent DMA event, it was noted that my driver's side castle nut was missing its cotter pin. I tried to install one today and discovered there's no hole to put the pin through! What should I do?

A) Drill a hole?
B) Loctite and overtorque the castle nut?
C) Replace with a nyloc nut?

[David T]

You could remove the nut and see if there is a hole first. If not, drill one.

[Boxbot]

No hole. No idea why the passenger side is set up correctly but the driver's is not. Will have to drill and place the pin through.

I shall draft a strongly worded letter to my local DeLorean dealership about the shoddy recall work that itself requires a recall.