Still looking for a D, Stumbled on this one in Denver

[FPBBrandon]

Hi all,

I posted here about a year ago when a pretty running D popped up locally, but there were some test drive issues, and I backed out of the car;

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4583-Test-Drove-an-81-D-looking-for-second-opinions

I decided to slow down the D Search and finish up my college car project, my 1987.5 Audi Coupe GT over the last year, which has turned out really well!

22706

but... its still not a DMC-12... I'm recovered financially from restoring the CGT and keeping a passive eye out for a running D in the 20-25k range, which led me to find this on local craigs the other day;

http://denver.craigslist.org/ctd/4148402576.html

Its at a local small-lot dealer, and had me wondering about how something like this ends up at a place like that.

Visited the car on Monday, but the car is the dealer owner's vehicle and he takes the keys with him when he leaves. The Fascia eyebrow isn't as bad as the photo makes it look in person, the panel gaps look decent, and I couldn't find any dents. There were a few light scratches in the stainless. The car has been advertised as both an '81 and an '82, judging by the VIN # 04831, I'm assuming its an '81 with no gas flap.

I haven't gotten to get a better look at the interior, but the steering wheel (which looked to have been completely discolored in the craigslist ad) looked to be decent, and the leather just looked like '80s european car original leather with light cracking and fading. The binnacle had minor cracks, but not ones I would replace over. I talked to an associate at the dealership when I visited but he didn't know much about the car.

I'm going back on Saturday to look with access to the interior and engine bay, and hopefully drive. I already let them know I'd like to see the car on a lift during my visit, and they said it shouldn't be a problem.

You guys had some really helpful first impressions and gut reactions last time, I'm hoping some of you more experienced D owners could take a look and let me know what you think? I'll have frame and engine bay pictures on Saturday for some additional context...

[Dangermouse]

Definitely an 81.

You say 04831, the ad says 04835. Not that it makes a difference. You may want to square that up if you are running a carfax.

Engine and frame pics will tell the story but it looks pretty good (exhaust tips are an acquired taste).

Find out how often it has been driven over the past few years - carfax may help if CO is a state that records mileage every year through emissions/inspections etc.

[FPBBrandon]

Definitely an 81.

You say 04831, the ad says 04835. Not that it makes a difference. You may want to square that up if you are running a carfax.

Engine and frame pics will tell the story but it looks pretty good (exhaust tips are an acquired taste).

Find out how often it has been driven over the past few years - carfax may help if CO is a state that records mileage every year through emissions/inspections etc.

Good catch, that was my typo. The exhaust tips will come off immediately if not sooner if I pick it up.

[ALEXAKOS]

Looks like a southern states d or a vehicle parked out in the sun often. Those seats will crack in no time. Well mentioned frame and engine will do all the talking.
No images of it makes me think dirty. Binnacle has been conveniently covered with that paper.
Good luck.

Ps love that Audi. Not a Quattro ?


Sent from a mobile device. Please excuse typos etc

[FPBBrandon]

Looks like a southern states d or a vehicle parked out in the sun often. Those seats will crack in no time. Well mentioned frame and engine will do all the talking.
No images of it makes me think dirty. Binnacle has been conveniently covered with that paper.
Good luck.

Ps love that Audi. Not a Quattro ?


Sent from a mobile device. Please excuse typos etc

Red one is my college car. Its a Coupe GT Special Build 2.3l NA front wheel drive making a rollicking 130 HP, with an '80s tastic digital dash (Its an improvement over the other coupes with the 2.2 by 20HP though.) Unfortunately its not a quattro :(. Fortunately, my quattro is parked next to it :)

The steering wheel in the picture definitely looks faded to dust, when I went and saw in person on monday it was all black, so I'll be on the lookout for shoe polish. Is there a cardboard piece that goes somewhere in the neighborhood of the oil pan? I recall seeing something that looked like mangled cardboard dangling from the motor. I know theres not much cardboard in motor bays anymore, but both my Audis have OEM cardboard airboxes from the fan to the radiator, so I'm trying not to be totally naive here... :)

[Silverbullet]

Well, mine has no cardboard.... and man, you could trip over that exhaust, or burn your leg...what was he thinking??

[Dangermouse]

That cardboard is more typical with front engined cars.

You may be thinking about the heat shield between the engine and the exhaust. If it is original and breaks it can hang down at one side, or just disintegrate into smaller pieces

[FPBBrandon]

So I went to see the car this weekend. The Dealer was helpful, put the car on a lift for me, and let me test drive by myself for a good amount of time.

The good:

-The frame looks pretty clean to me, some very minor surface rust but nothing particularly scary
-Motor seemed to be quite happy to run after it got started
-Transmission felt much more solid than the other car I drove; shifts were direct and it never fought me to get in gear
-Clutch felt good, couldn't detect any slip
-Comes with tools and a shop manual
-The windows both worked
-The car has a fresh fuel system service that cleaned the tank and lines.
-The alternator works

The mediocre:

-Stainless has some scratches, not terrible but noticeable
-The brakes felt like they were in good shape, but it feels like the brakes are under matched for the car perhaps. I can't remember the brakes from my last drive, but I was a little underwhelmed.
-The facia eyebrow isn't so bad in person; can a body shop work with the OEM facias or is a new fiberglass facia required if I want to get rid of the eyebrow?
-The battery in the car is very very dead. Probably points at a parasitic electrical leak that the lot hasn't found.
-The E-brake isn't so great anymore, but I'm convinced no '80s car e-brake is particularly useful.
-The ugly steering wheel from the dealer pics was rested and looks ok, but not great.

The bad:

-E brake light is constantly on regardless of the position of the brake lever. Probably a bad sensor?
-Gas gauge doesn't post and sits at dead zero, guessing fuel level sender is out.
-Brake and reverse lights are out, could be bulbs or worse.
-The horn is unsprung on the turn signal stalk, and time I went to signal (or hit a bump wrong, or looked at the car Funny) the horn blared unintentionally. I made alot of friends on my test drive... I think this wouldn't be a hard fix.
-Occasional false door open light.
-Door gaskets are shot
-Minor shimmy in the wheel at 50-60, potentially front tires with flat spots or bad balancing.
-One high beam and one regular beam need replaced due to condensation and cracks respectively.
-Strange panel gap on the T-panel on the roof along the louvers

The drive went las follows; we drove off the lot in the car thinking it was completely out of gas from the sender not posting fuel levels per above. We stopped at a gas station and I put $10 of premium in the tank. We got back in to carry on with the drive, but the car was dead in the water. We tried a quick push start, but the battery was so dead that I don't believe the engine got spark. My accomplice ran back to the dealer, who drove out with a jump box, but the battery on the jump box was dead. The dealer came back with an A8 full of electricity and jumper cables. By this time, I'd wound up talking to several people who were curious about the car. The dealer threw the cables on the cars and immediately tried to start with no luck, and the motor turning over very slowly. We chatted about the A8 for about 10 minutes with the cables connected, then I tried the D again, which started right up with a little gas. I think the current battery is both extremely dead, and too small in terms of cca for the car. We continued uneventfully for another 45 minutes, except for the horn choosing who it would honk at autonomously (maybe the car knew some things I didn't about all the people we honked at).

After an hours drive, the car could be shut down and successfully restarted after I parked it.

All of the pictures I have are out on the front page of my photo bucket below, sorry for not posting pictures but I'm not having luck from my tablet.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/fpbbrandon/library/

Any thoughts? I'm not super afraid of any of the bad stuff above, but maybe I should be?

Thanks!

[NightFlyer]

-Stainless has some scratches, not terrible but noticeable

Any D that's driven is bound to have a few light scratches on the SS panels. So long as they're not gouges...


-The brakes felt like they were in good shape, but it feels like the brakes are under matched for the car perhaps. I can't remember the brakes from my last drive, but I was a little underwhelmed.

A complete brake system overhaul (sans new rotors) runs about $500 in parts (or less) and takes about 14 hours of your time. Fairly easy to do - just time consuming. This includes rebuilding the calipers with new pots/pistons, replacing the master cylinder, replacing all the soft/flex lines, new pads, and new fluid.


-The facia eyebrow isn't so bad in person; can a body shop work with the OEM facias or is a new fiberglass facia required if I want to get rid of the eyebrow?

The polyurethane fascia can be straightened to an acceptable/tolerable standard using a heat gun, a few pieces of flat stock, some clamps, and plenty of patience.


-The battery in the car is very very dead. Probably points at a parasitic electrical leak that the lot hasn't found.

Surprised that the dealership just doesn't offer to throw in a new battery. I prefer to run a sealed AGM to eliminate the problems caused by out-gassing of the typical flooded lead-acid designs. A decent AGM battery can be had for around $125.


-The E-brake isn't so great anymore, but I'm convinced no '80s car e-brake is particularly useful.

Assuming that the pads are still good and that the clamping mechanisms haven't been butchered, it's either a cable issue (not difficult work but can be time consuming to sort) or just a matter of needing adjustment, which is extremely quick and easy to do.


-The ugly steering wheel from the dealer pics was rested and looks ok, but not great.

If you're unhappy, you can always get it recovered at a local leather shop.


-E brake light is constantly on regardless of the position of the brake lever. Probably a bad sensor?

It's just a simple plunger switch - probably just a matter of reorienting its mounting position. $24 if a replacement is necessary.


-Gas gauge doesn't post and sits at dead zero, guessing fuel level sender is out.

Could just be a wiring issue - the wires are notorious for corroding/breaking off the stock/OEM sender's terminals. Or, if the sender is bad, perhaps it could be rebuilt. But, if it requires replacement, there are options available, even if not ideal.


-Brake and reverse lights are out, could be bulbs or worse.

But tail/running lights and turn signals work ok? Strange... I'd check the boards if the bulbs were good. In most cases, it's possible to refurb the stock/OEM boards if they are at fault. If not, new boards are $66/ea. Or, if you can find a pair of Grady's improved boards, those would be the way to go. Reverse lights could also be the transmission mounted switch, $23 and fairly easily replaced.


-The horn is unsprung on the turn signal stalk, and time I went to signal (or hit a bump wrong, or looked at the car Funny) the horn blared unintentionally. I made alot of friends on my test drive... I think this wouldn't be a hard fix.

Hopefully easily repaired. If not, PIA to change out with a whole new unit, which runs $131.


-Occasional false door open light.

Just a matter of the striker plate and plunger switch not making firm contact - no big deal. Easily fixed by either relocating the striker plate or elongating the plunger switch by using longer end caps.


-Door gaskets are shot

Easily obtained - no big deal.


-Minor shimmy in the wheel at 50-60, potentially front tires with flat spots or bad balancing.

DeLorean steering isn't isolated at all from the factory - if not a wheel/tire issue, then it's just normal DeLorean steering. If you don't like it, it is possible to engineer it out with stiff bushings and aftermarket linkages, but it will cost...


-One high beam and one regular beam need replaced due to condensation and cracks respectively.

Sylvania sealed beams are cheap at $8/ea or less.


-Strange panel gap on the T-panel on the roof along the louvers

Not sure what you mean by this and couldn't find a reference pic in your pic link.

[OverlandMan]

But tail/running lights and turn signals work ok? Strange... I'd check the boards if the bulbs were good. In most cases, it's possible to refurb the stock/OEM boards if they are at fault. If not, new boards are $66/ea. Or, if you can find a pair of Grady's improved boards, those would be the way to go. Reverse lights could also be the transmission mounted switch, $23 and fairly easily replaced.


One additional note on the taillight boards... I found on my car and another local owners that the original wiring harness clip uses sprung terminals to make contact to one side of the board. The sprung clips get worn out and sometimes you have to bend them back using a pick or small screwdriver.

[Dangermouse]

Looks like a decent car with no obvious major issues, but plenty of minor ones, I'd say typical of a car that hasn't been driven much recently.

Draw up a list of everything that Josh listed above, plus exhaust heat shields and start working that price down.

[FPBBrandon]

Thanks for the very comprehensive breakdown on the things above! I apologize for not having a good reference pic for the last nitpick on my bad list, I was focused on pictures of the engine and frame. I guess the best way to summarize would be to say the roof line along the back of the roof stainless was slightly bulged on the passenger side. Its minor, but noticeable. I'm not sure how peeling panels off of the car is, its probably something I'd leave in the meantime.

I have a few other minor things worth mentioning;

-The Louvers don't latch to the hood. It looks like the latch for the louvers is too far towards the aft of the car compared to where the post on the hood is for it to catch.
-The rear engine cover under the louvers has started splitting in the center where the vents are. This is obviously the least reinforced area on the cover, and could be easily repaired instead of going for a new cover hopefully.
-The tach rests at 7000 RPM with the ignition on but the motor off. Is this not ordinary? The tach seemed to function fine when the car was running.

All in all I feel pretty positive about the car, and anticipate trying to talk numbers and hammer something out with the dealership today or tomorrow. They have it listed at ~23k, which from my reading here would be a road ready car thats very nice with few blemishes.

I think the car has alot of potential, but maybe by the standards that I think I've picked up on, its maybe more of a ~18-20k car? It needs some work (like any old car) but nothing on the awesome and thorough answers from NightFlyer scares me too badly.

Dermot, did you see the picture with the dangling garbage off of the exhaust? That was the 'cardboard' I mentioned, from your post above is that the heat shield you're talking about?

One other question- I was able to quickly find the owners manual on my phone stranded in a gas station parking lot for the rear engine cover release and battery location but I can't find it this morning on my PC...What is the panel directly in front of the gear lever with a rotary knob and a black glossy window on it? I couldn't figure out what this did while I was out with the car.

[Kenny_Z]

What is the panel directly in front of the gear lever with a rotary knob and a black glossy window on it? I couldn't figure out what this did while I was out with the car.

The glossy window is the clock. The rotary knob dims the gauge lights I believe. Mine doesn't work.

[Dangermouse]

Dermot, did you see the picture with the dangling garbage off of the exhaust? That was the 'cardboard' I mentioned, from your post above is that the heat shield you're talking about?

One other question- I was able to quickly find the owners manual on my phone stranded in a gas station parking lot for the rear engine cover release and battery location but I can't find it this morning on my PC...What is the panel directly in front of the gear lever with a rotary knob and a black glossy window on it? I couldn't figure out what this did while I was out with the car.

I was referring to the heat shield for the exhaust muffler, and what you show is the heat shield for the cat. Similar material, similar issue.

The rotary knob is the rheostat for the dash lighting and the gloss window should have been the clock.

It seems like everything will need a little TLC, so 18-20k seems reasonable but 16-18 would be better to cover the stuff that you can't see. It's a low mileage car that hasn't been driven much recently, I would guess.

[NightFlyer]

I guess the best way to summarize would be to say the roof line along the back of the roof stainless was slightly bulged on the passenger side. Its minor, but noticeable. I'm not sure how peeling panels off of the car is, its probably something I'd leave in the meantime.

Could be indicative of roof box separation (common), which is most prevalent on cars with over-wound torsion bars and/or improperly sized or overly powerful door struts, but not unusual on unmolested cars either where the door was just used a little too harshly (perhaps being caught by the wind frequently). There is a fix that involves bolting and/or screwing down the roof box, but it's quite a bit of work taking 8-12 hours to do it right. Then again, it could also just be an improperly mounted stainless t-panel (again, not uncommon). Best to check the ball mounts on the door frame for the door struts - if they appear overly stressed/bent then it's probably roof box separation.


-The Louvers don't latch to the hood. It looks like the latch for the louvers is too far towards the aft of the car compared to where the post on the hood is for it to catch.

Not uncommon - fixable by fine adjustment/manipulation of the latch on the engine cover.


-The rear engine cover under the louvers has started splitting in the center where the vents are. This is obviously the least reinforced area on the cover, and could be easily repaired instead of going for a new cover hopefully.

The cover is very flimsy. Reinforcement is a common mod performed by many owners.


-The tach rests at 7000 RPM with the ignition on but the motor off. Is this not ordinary? The tach seemed to function fine when the car was running.

Gauge home positions are very 'unique' on our cars. As long as it appeared to function properly while the engine was running, I wouldn't think anything of it. However, you may want to clean all the electrical ground points as a precautionary measure.


All in all I feel pretty positive about the car, and anticipate trying to talk numbers and hammer something out with the dealership today or tomorrow. They have it listed at ~23k, which from my reading here would be a road ready car thats very nice with few blemishes.

IMHO, I believe this car to have a fair market value of $19k-$21k, assuming that the engine/trans appeared spot on for the most part, and it sounds like they do. It also appears to be a very unmolested engine bay in the pics, as is best seen in the fact that it still has a fairly clean looking manifold stove pipe and quick warm-up emissions valve still present.


Dermot, did you see the picture with the dangling garbage off of the exhaust? That was the 'cardboard' I mentioned, from your post above is that the heat shield you're talking about?

Stock/OEM heat shields are asbestos based and definitely worth salvaging. I'd get it remounted as best I could as opposed to replacing it with a modern-day equivalent.


One other question- I was able to quickly find the owners manual on my phone stranded in a gas station parking lot for the rear engine cover release and battery location but I can't find it this morning on my PC

Engine cover release is located behind the driver's seat headrest, just below the rear window, in the corner of the bulkhead/fire wall. Battery location is a compartment located behind the passenger seat backrest - just flip up the lose hanging carpet.


...What is the panel directly in front of the gear lever with a rotary knob and a black glossy window on it? I couldn't figure out what this did while I was out with the car.

As already mentioned by others clock and rheostat (for dimming instrument lights/clock when they are activated by the MLS (master light switch)). Common for the clocks to be dead, however, it may just be a fuse (especially if the cigar lighter is also not working) - check fuse 17 (should be a yellow 20A). Common for the cigar lighter terminals to short out on the center console frame and blow the fuse. Relay/fuse compartment is located on the passenger side of the parcel shelf floor - lift the carpet and remove the fiberboard panel to access.

Best of luck!

[NightFlyer]

Just a couple notes on things I noticed in your pics but didn't address. Neither are a huge deal:

- Coil / bulkhead connector cover is missing - if you insist on having one (good for keeping moisture off electrical connectors/contacts), they're $109 for NOS or $249 for a SS reproduction

- it appears that the retaining bolts for the air filter housing are missing

[Dangermouse]

Wait, you had to put your own gas in??? :hysterical:



I just noticed that the dealership had previously listed it for sale in August for $34,900, so they have “repositioned” their pricing a bit.


At the time, they included a Carfax that showed the mileage was 18,476 in 2000 which would imply that it hasn’t turned a wheel in 13 years. Or that the angle drive is buggered. Did you notice whether the odometer moved as you drove?

[FPBBrandon]

I paid attention to the Odo as I was driving and it rolled over consistently through the whole drive.

I did put my own gas money into it, but I used everything I put in. I figured it gave me the lee-way to keep the car out for awhile, so my test drive was about an hour and a half.

Where did you get the carfax? When I try to pull it from the dealer's site I just get redirected to carfax main.

[FPBBrandon]

I made an offer at 19k last night, I'll let you all know how this goes. Very excited!

[FPBBrandon]

I made an offer at 19k last night, I'll let you all know how this goes. Very excited!

They Accepted! I'm hoping to pick it up tonight!

[louielouie2000]

They Accepted! I'm hoping to pick it up tonight!

Congrats! Make sure to post pictures of your newborn when it arrives home! :thumbup:

[refugeefromcalif]

Congrats!
(I hope you insisted on them filling the gas tank for the sale)...

George

[NightFlyer]

They Accepted! I'm hoping to pick it up tonight!

Congratulations on your purchase! That's a very fair price. If you perform most of the work that the car needs yourself, for less than $1.5k in parts, you could have a car that's in near perfect / close-to-concours level condition and easily worth upwards of $25k+.

Welcome to the club :thumbup:

[Dangermouse]

Alright! Well done.

[FPBBrandon]

Home. What a day!!!

22777

[JohnZ]

I understand you pretty well!

Congrats!!

:)

[NightFlyer]

home. What a day!!!

22777

awesome!!!

[OverlandMan]

Home. What a day!!!

22777

:cheers: Very nice - congrats!

[FPBBrandon]

I figured I'd give a little update now that I'm a week in.

I've started addressing some of the previously mentioned flaws, and I'm pleased to say some have been dealt with successfully!

The horn was the first thing that was too annoying to stand. It looks like the OEM arrangement of the horn components used a spring along the back of the button on the stock, which was gone when I opened the button up. The contacts on the cap of the button to complete the circuit were also mangled. I straightened the contacts, and one sacrificial bic pen later, I have a horn button that feels fine to me, and haven't honked unintentionally since! Horn- Sorted!

The issue with no brake lights was very concerning to me. I had a 1984 Bitter SC 3.0 project car a few years ago, and I could get absolutely nothing to work on it electrically. I started pretty rudimentarily, and replaced the bulbs on one board, with no results. After no luck with the bulbs, I went to my shop manual, and found the brake switch in the pedal box. It looked ok as it was mounted, and the first night I worked on it, I pulled the brake switch and tested with a multimeter, and it tested fine. I slapped it back into the car and had brakelights again. Great! I then drove the car to a local cars and coffee, where I checked the brakelights, and they were out again... Damn! Got it home, and pulled the brake switch again before breakfast the next morning, and the plunger shot into the footwell. Getting the switch working and re-seating it was its undoing. Nervous about the safety issue not having brakelights creates, I went to the local auto parts store and found a switch that is not OEM, but feels much sturdier with a metal body and internals. I'll post what I used when I find the box, but I have my brake lights back and the replacement feels much more solid in build than the OEM. I was planning to use it as a stop-gap until I got a DMC order in, but I think I'm going to keep it as is now. Brake Lights- Sorted!

The issue with no reverse lights was another spooky electrical gremlin. The manual showed a reverse switch somewhere in the circuit, and I had no idea where to look on the car. Under the shift boot? On the linkage somewhere? Who knows? Luckily this forums did... with a quick search, I got under the car and pulled the reverse switch. I jumpered the two connectors, and my reverse lights worked! Multimeter tested the switch and couldn't get continuity through it no matter how hard I pushed the ball bearing on the side that goes into the trans. I'm convinced this is the culprit, a new one is on the way from DMCH. Reverse Lights- To be continued!

The constant on ebrake light on the dash is another thing I went after. I started by pulling the switch on the e-brake lever itself, assuming it was another 30 year old switch gone bad. Got to the switch and pulled, and the switch worked. Made a trip over to the shop manual and did some reading about the circuit. Apparently, both the brake fluid level sender in the reservoir and the handbrake can both trip the "Brake" light in the binnacle. Put the e-brake back together, noting the shape of the boot also seems to make it impossible to get the e-brake lever all the way down. Added some DOT4 to the brake fluid tank, held the e-brake down and the light turned off! I plan to rebuild at least my front calipers this winter with new lines, where I'll properly fill and bleed the brakes, but for the mean time its showed me that something needs to be done about the fitment of the boot over the e-brake lever. "Brake" Light- Solved but not fixed!

When I got the car home, I noticed a pretty strong gasolene smell. I took a look under the hood to find a little jet-stream of gas spraying from the banjo fitting. I let the car depressurize and pulled the Banjo, noting everything looked ok on the fitting. I felt the crush washers and found the culprit to be a small channel that had formed in the crush washer, I believe from someone torquing hard on the banjo bolt (the head of the banjo showed some mangledness). I got consecutively laughed out of each local parts store, which I was surprised at given the proliferation of K-jet on other cars. Not expecting much, I called Haglin Automotive in Boulder, who has a reputation for working on DMCs, and spoke with Dana, who got me hooked up with a baggie of crush washers and a fresh banjo bolt. Score! Slapped the new banjo and washers on, fired the car up, checked for leaks, and all was well. Potential to become the human torch- Sorted!

One of the other things I B&M'ed about earlier was the car's eyebrows. I followed the excellent How-to guide posted by David Proehl here at http://dmctalk.org/forumdisplay.php?4-How-To-Guides/page3, and I'm very excited about the results. I haven't zipped the car's face back together yet, but things look straight, and the process has wiped the sad look off its face.

2292022921

Confused looking fascia- To be continued!

Finally, like just about everyone with a username on this forum, I've got fuel sender issues. Started pulling the access panel for the fuel tank and found it to be RTV silicone'd shut. I did some liberating to break the RTV bond, but my hand slipped at one point and I went fingernail first into the part of the panel I had pried up with all of my weight and strength behind it. Ouch. I lost a good quadrant of my thumbnail, and bled more than I have in recent memory. After I recomposed myself, there was no way I was going to let the stupid panel beat me. Much more prying and some swearing later, I finally got the panel to give up its stranglehold on the rest of the car and come out. I pulled out the sender and let it drain into the tank, and did some jumper testing on the pins for the fuel gauge using this awesome thread; http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?2291-How-to-Inaccurate-fuel-gauge-readings-How-to-rule-out-the-actual-fuel-gauge&highlight=sender , and the gauge performed flawlessly. Last night, I pulled the sender out completely, and tested it on a bench to see if the potentiometer was acting up. After some expert guidance from a friend who knows how to use the other features of a multimeter aside from 'continuity', we found that while the terminals and wires were dirty, and weather beaten, the sender's electrical components do indeed work. We replaced all of the lines from the terminals on the sender, and cleaned all the pins. I plugged it into the car and tested moving the floater around and its impacts on the gauge, noting the fuel level reported moves around with the floater. Awesome! When I stuck the sender back in the tank, I get the same completely empty reading. The floater doesn't seem to want to move on its own bouyancy. I need to pull the thing even further apart and figure out why the floater doesn't float, but I couldn't figure out how to disassemble the thing last night unfortunately. Fuel sender- To be Continued!

Loving every minute of it so far!

[NightFlyer]

Sounds like you have a great handle on things!

Interesting that the brake light problem was with the plunger switch at the peddle - rarely is that the case with our cars. Interesting, and yes, please do follow-up with the aftermarket or cross-referenced part that you ended up using!

Glad you're enjoying the ownership experience :thumbup:

[ALEXAKOS]

FANTASTIC!!!!

We all feel for ya there! And what a tremendous comparison the Audi with he D. The D is waaayy down here!
Yup, those may look similar up front on pictures.... bur real life is different baby! :race:

[DeLorean03]

Great job, man. You are flying all over the place knocking problems out! Hats off to you! :rock_on:

[FPBBrandon]

Rebuilt my fuel sender last night, and got the gas gauge to post. I'm optimistic that I'm going to get the front end back together after de-browing the facia with new headlights, T-trims and bucket adjusters tonight, as well as a new reverse switch (maybe my reverse lights will finally work!) Stay tuned...

[Citizen]

[snip]
The constant on ebrake light on the dash is another thing I went after. I started by pulling the switch on the e-brake lever itself, assuming it was another 30 year old switch gone bad. Got to the switch and pulled, and the switch worked. Made a trip over to the shop manual and did some reading about the circuit. Apparently, both the brake fluid level sender in the reservoir and the handbrake can both trip the "Brake" light in the binnacle. Put the e-brake back together, noting the shape of the boot also seems to make it impossible to get the e-brake lever all the way down. Added some DOT4 to the brake fluid tank, held the e-brake down and the light turned off! I plan to rebuild at least my front calipers this winter with new lines, where I'll properly fill and bleed the brakes, but for the mean time its showed me that something needs to be done about the fitment of the boot over the e-brake lever. "Brake" Light- Solved but not fixed!
[snip]



I have this same problem with the dash brake light staying on. I've checked both the switch at the brake handle, and made sure the resevoir had plenty of fluid, yet the light stays on.

My question is, is there is any other way the light could come on (other than a short)? Like maybe when there is high brake pad wear, lines need bleeding, or something else wrong with the brake system?

Thanks,

Thomas

...

[Bitsyncmaster]

Schematic shows; Park brake switch and brake fluid level switch are the only two wires that drive the brake light wire to ground.

[Citizen]

Schematic shows; Park brake switch and brake fluid level switch are the only two wires that drive the brake light wire to ground.

Thanks Dave. I guess that means I must have a short somewhere.

...

[FPBBrandon]

Thanks Dave. I guess that means I must have a short somewhere.

...

Have you checked your ebrake boot? Mine seems to be too long at the front, and works as a lever spring to ratchet my ebrake to the first click, so my light is still always on. I plan to shave the boot a bit to get my lever to lay flat.

[FPBBrandon]

Also, just for fun... Pictures of straightened facia, and fuel sender doing its thing!

229812298322982

[NightFlyer]

Also, just for fun... Pictures of straightened facia, and fuel sender doing its thing!

229812298322982

Not surprising about the parking brake boot causing the problem - the tolerances used in manufacturing were very broad to say the least. Mine is borderline and the mechanism is stiff enough that so long as I have the lever as far to the floor as I can get it, the light stays off, except when occasionally going over railroad track crossings (when it's jostled enough to slightly raise (but not click) and engage the light). It's not enough of an issue for me to address, so I just leave it. But shaving it sounds like a perfect solution!

Your fascia straightening turned out EXCELLENT! A nice straight front fascia really does improve the looks of the car. And there's no better reward for all the effort in rehabbing your stock/OEM sending unit than seeing the gauge fully operational - that's AWESOME! Saving money, giving old parts new life, and the experience/learning are all invaluable!

You're going to have a near perfect car in no time at the rate you're knocking out the projects :rock_on:

[FPBBrandon]

Not surprising about the parking brake boot causing the problem - the tolerances used in manufacturing were very broad to say the least. Mine is borderline and the mechanism is stiff enough that so long as I have the lever as far to the floor as I can get it, the light stays off, except when occasionally going over railroad track crossings (when it's jostled enough to slightly raise (but not click) and engage the light). It's not enough of an issue for me to address, so I just leave it. But shaving it sounds like a perfect solution!

Your fascia straightening turned out EXCELLENT! A nice straight front fascia really does improve the looks of the car. And there's no better reward for all the effort in rehabbing your stock/OEM sending unit than seeing the gauge fully operational - that's AWESOME! Saving money, giving old parts new life, and the experience/learning are all invaluable!

You're going to have a near perfect car in no time at the rate you're knocking out the projects :rock_on:

Much obliged, sir! I would never have bought the car without the goadings and awesome advice that you and others provided!

Got my box of goodies from DMCH last night. Pulled and replaced the reverse switch. Reverse lights- Sorted!

Pulled and replaced the cracked rear driver's side marker light (that I cracked when I touched the side of my garage backing in the night I got it -D'oh- (this thing is wide!!!)). Also got under the car and wired up the dangling piece of asbestos heat shield until I can figure out a better solution. No more dangling garbage!

I've been driving it as much as I can before we start getting meaningful snow here in CO, and I've racked up nearly 1,000 miles in a few weeks. The car is running very well so far!

When I was driving on Saturday, my drivers side turn signals doubled their cadence. Damn, another burned out bulb or fatigued tab on the boards is what I'm thinking. I got out and took a look to find my front turn signal out, which is strange as I'd been having problems with the rear. I bought it a bulb last night, and changed it with no luck. I started putzing around with the wiring loom, and I believe the green wire is fatigued and broken somewhere. I can't quite figure out how to disassemble the bulb cradle without cutting to check all the connections there. The constant parking filament works, so that rules out the red wire and the ground. To be continued, if anyone has any experience removing the turn signal bulb cradle I'd love some advice.

I have another round of projects in mind, as the majority of the things I used to negotiate with the dealership have been addressed. Here's what I'm coming up with;

Stainless- While the stainless on my car is far from awful, I'd like to bring some freshness back into it. Is there any way to minimize small scratches and imperfections, short of buying the regraining wheel? I don't trust myself to regrain the car, but figure there surely must be some way to take care of the small stuff. Any suggestions?

Brakes- A rebuild and e-brake adjustment is definitely in the cards for these over the winter. I'll follow the excellent guides in the how-to section.

Struts- My fronts are totally gone, I'm curious as to how the car would ride with good struts. Has anyone used Hervey's easy riders? I'm not thinking SPAX or any performance kit currently, I'd just like a smooth ride. I'll probably do the rears with the NOS parts from DMCH or Herveys rears (NOS are still 30 years old, I wonder how long they'd last...). This will be the first time I'll tangle with doing my own struts.

Saggy Headliner- All three headliners don't look great. They don't look the worst, but they're losing adhesion in the head blisters, and the center headliner is starting to dangle. I plan to bring the car home with me over the week off I have at Thanksgiving, pull and address in an afternoon with my mom (she's pretty great at things that involve fabric!)

New Seat Skins- I think this will add alot to the interior of the car. The seats and the steering wheel are really the only visibly tired parts internally. I'm not sure if I should attempt this myself or engage an upholstery shop. When I was going to redo the seats on my Coupe GT, I planned to use a shop, as a proper upholstery kit isn't available. The circumstances here are a bit different. I'll probably aim to knock this out around Christmas.

T-Panel- Remove and find out whats up with the character line above the louvers.

Louvers- I tried adjusting these with some friends recently, and we could get them to engage but not latch solidly. My DMCH goodie bag had a new post, but the latch itself is $50! Still thinking on what to do with this one.

Gaskets- Everything must go. I tacked whats in there in with a bit of clear silicone as a stopgap measure, but new seals all around will be the order of the day.

Binnacle- I have a lightly cracked binnacle, its nowhere near bad enough to bother me. If I have some spare cash after the holidays I may change this out for one of Hervey's binnacles.

Cargo Net- I've always thought this was part of 'the look' of the interior of the car, and mine is AWOL. I'm going to start looking for one.

Air intake hose- I found a big rip in this before the filter. Its not a big deal since its before the filter, but I will replace this with a new rubber hose.

[dhaney]

I wish I had seen this thread but what can you do...

The previous owner of this car took good care of it, no it isn't perfect... its a Delorean that has been driven and enjoyed.

Brandon, contact me via pm we are a pretty active club and we get together for tech sessions all the time and we have a ton of spare parts new and used available at a discount to members.

I am currently repairing my car after some heavy parts fell on it destroying the hood and windscreen.

Dan Haney
vin 03254 & 04770

[FPBBrandon]

I figure I'd provide a bit of an update as I've been hard at work on the car, as usual.

The bad blinker was chased down to a broken wire in the turn signal line. The green wire is the wire that is relayed to blink, and thats what had developed a continuity break somewhere, evidenced by the fact that the parking light worked well, but wouldn't blink no matter what I tried. I snipped as much of the front lead of the green wire as I could, and soldered in a fresh length, and voila! The turn signal was back good as new. Crazy parking light- Sorted

The E-Brake boot rebounding the lever to the point that the BRAKE light lights has been rectified with a very careful application of cutting wheel. The front lip of the boot was levering against the brake lever (very meta), and shaving a very small amount off the front of the boot lets the lever lay flat. My light is still on, so its time for some more DOT4. BRAKE light-The saga continues.

The stereo install I started has stalled on the faceplate conundrum, and whether to abandon the project and reinstall the old craig or keep going and buy a cut panel. Can you tell I'm averse to decision making?

The big ticket item I had over the thanksgiving week was addressing a slippery clutch on short notice. About two weeks ago, we took the car to lunch and I noticed the car would rev and rev without really going anywhere on the speedo, and my stomach sank. A clutch seems like a daunting job in my mind. Nevertheless, I tee'd up the shop manual, a few good friends, shot some money at DMCH for a clutch kit and started the tranny removal last Saturday.

We got alot of progress nailed in the first few hours, then things ground to a standstill as we couldn't get the transmission to let go of the motor. Turns out there is a metal dust shield on the bottom of the tranny (4 bolts with heads pointed at the cradle of the frame), and a drivers side 'Magnetic Timing Pickup Plate' with an unused sensor, with two mounting bolts down about elbow deep into the motor, that you need a 4-jointed wrist to reach, both of which butt up against the flywheel and will stop your efforts to pull the trans dead in their tracks. I got both of these the next morning thanks to advice from DMCMW Dave, and the tranny walked off the motor shortly after.

With all of the last minute antics surrounding the clutch, I hadn't bought a clutch alignment tool and the kit from DMC didn't include one, so a trip to the FLAPS netted me an order for a clutch tool with similar dimensions to the old clutch, due in a few days. This actually worked out well, as it allowed me to step back and take a breather from the project. I got the flywheel resurfaced locally, and received the clutch tool on Wednesday morning (I believe it was from an '89 Honda CRX in case anyone needs one in a pinch, had 21 splines and a similar ID and crank dowel diameter).

On Wednesday, we went back to work. I changed the release bearing, but didn't change the pilot bearing or the rear main seal. The pilot felt perfect (no play, no noise), and the rear main wasn't leaking and after having read some posts on here about how the rear main will leak like a sieve if there is any imperfection in how its installed, I decided to leave it be. I'm sure within another 200 miles or so the rear main will spout a niagra falls sized leak to show me who's boss, in which case at least I know how to reasonably quickly pull the tranny this time! We bolted the flywheel back on and torqued, pressure plate/clutch and torqued again, and took the opportunity to thoroughly degunkify the inside of the bell housing of all the old clutch remnants/dirt/crud that was in it.

Walking the trans back onto the car proved to be a royal nightmare, with lots of wiggling, swearing, kicking, cajoling, some pleading, a tiny bit of crying, and a few busted knuckles. We eventually got it close enough we could get the tranny bolts to bite, and started scooting it in with the bolts as though we were tightening a wheel. I was a little nervous about pulling the threads out of the block, but it worked out ok, and soon we had the tranny mated with the new clutch. Then we had to back the bolts off and redo all of the above because I put the clutch slave cylinder on the wrong side of the bell housing the first time. We were all more than a little bummed at the discovery of this, but we were able to quickly correct and resecure.

After reinstalling the mounts, linkage, and other ancillary things, we started the car suspended. The side of my clutch that was burned out was the pressure plate side, and a friend of mine had suggested we check the car for pre-engagement, as he made it sound like the flywheel side should go first. The car started right up, but to my immediate dismay, I saw the axle flanges on the tranny spinning away at idle. I jumped under the car and grabbed them, and was immediately relieved that they didn't break my wrists, and all that was turning them was fluid moving through the tranny.

Bouyed on, we reinstalled the half-shafts, set the car down, and tested the clutch. Shockingly, it works well, and all of the slip is gone. I was so relieved! Slippery clutch- Sorted.

I pulled my door headliners for a project while I wasn't working on the trans, as they're somewhat droopy, and I'm in the process of pulling the old fabric. Its slow going as I'm trying to get it off in one piece without being brutal on the boards too. I did find some neat cave paintings under the liner panels. and will post when I have access to a better PC.

Things keep chugging along, I'm thrilled as ever!