Recovery of 04389

[Delorean02378]

Well, have you ever heard the saying "Deloreans are like potato chips, you can't just have one" and I seem to remember a quote from Dave at DMCMW saying something like "Deloreans are like puppies, they may follow you home".
I'm having a hard time deciding if this post needs to go under
"Recovery of 4389"
"Uh Oh"
"You might be obsessed with DeLoreans if..."

Saturday morning I got up about 1:50AM left Nashville and drove 470 miles to go see a Delorean that's for sale. Specifically Vin#4389

Over the past few weeks, I've done some research on the car and ask the seller many questions. We discussed price some but did not come to an agreement over the phone.

After making the 7.5 hour drive down, I finally get to see the car. Everyone knows that feeling of checking out a Delorean you haven't seen before. Gets your blood moving. The first thing I noticed was the license plate "Uh Oh".

Uh Oh is right, this car needs work, the owner has no keys and the car is locked! Luckily, I did a little research and asked a few questions to get some advice prior to driving down. Thank you to the person who assisted with this.

The car will need some work, no doubt! Rear quarter panel, interior, tires, fuel system, I could on and on but I'll stop there.

Here's the catch, the guy didn't want to "damage" the car so I either bought the car and got in or walked away...

After an hour of inspecting the car and negotiating with the owner, we finally reached an agreement.

Now, time to get in the damn thing. I had a list of about 30 items I brought with me on the trip. Better to be over prepared than not having the correct tool for the job. 15 minutes later I had the door open and the door struts changed out. I took the 2 year old struts off of 15500 and "donated" them to 04389. 15500 got some new ones so all is good. I'm already looking at this one (04389) as the red-headed step child.

I found some interesting things in the car, storage compartment behind the driver's seat, and in the trunk. A few very useful and expensive parts and a ton of fuses! Yikes! Also notice the Natural Light beer can behind the seat. Let's hope the extra $2.00 he saved on beer was spent on the Delorean.

The guy didn't even clean it up prior to me coming, so I took a few before and after pictures. It was raining so the pictures are limited. More to come when it arrives in Nashville.

At this point I'm unsure what I'll do with the car, I may continue to donate parts to the red headed step child and get it back on the road or I may use it for parts. It would be nice to have those extra parts but I've never killed a Delorean.

Houston cut a key this morning and it's already on it's way to GA. Thanks for the great service.

I've initiated transport but don't have an ETA at this time. I don't think a few more days in the elements is going to hurt :biggrin:

So let's try out this Post a Poll function of DMC Talk.
Do you think I should
A. Attempt to get it back on the road
B. Use it for parts
C. Hold on to it for a few years then decide.

Pictures of 04389 are in my album named accordingly 04389.

Kirk
02378,15500,04389

[Ryan King]

I dont think it will need too much work, from what you have said. Sounds like the generic things to get any DeLorean back on the road. Can you post some photos?

[Delorean02378]

Pictures of 04389 are in my albums named 04389.
There are too many to repost on thread.

[sdg3205]

I vote restoration. I love seeing cars come back from the dead.

How's the frame? I saw a little rust.

[Delorean02378]

Yes, there is rust on the front frame extension, the rear is decent. More pictures of the frame to come once it arrives.

[DMC5180]

The plates expired in 90. The car has SS bumper letters (probably from D1 back then) It almost looks like the rear wheels are dark gray while the fronts are light grey. It's always Nice to see how Georgia Heat N Humidity takes its toll on interiors. Incidentally, my car came from Atlanta. I hope you a good deal on it. What's the Metal box sitting on the Shelf behind the driver seat? Looks like an external voltage regulator of some kind.

[dvonk]

I vote restoration. I love seeing cars come back from the dead.

+1. Zombie D! :biggrin:

[Nicholas R]

I think we've all seen worse get restored. Seems a shame not to at least attempt a restoration. Best of Luck!

[Dangermouse]

Good job on rescuing it.

[Delorean02378]

The plates expired in 90. The car has SS bumper letters (probably from D1 back then) It almost looks like the rear wheels are dark gray while the fronts are light grey. It's always Nice to see how Georgia Heat N Humidity takes its toll on interiors. Incidentally, my car came from Atlanta. I hope you a good deal on it. What's the Metal box sitting on the Shelf behind the driver seat? Looks like an external voltage regulator of some kind.

Good eye. You're correct, the rear wheels are dark grey and the front are silver and take a look at the size of those rear tires, they barely fit in there. The metal box on the shelf is an iginition module (Part# 101055) $175.00 so let's hope that's an extra and it doesn't have to be replaced. I did find a new fuel pump so that's a start.

[82DMC12]

Where are the pics? Not sure where to go to see them.

Andy

[Delorean02378]

Where are the pics? Not sure where to go to see them.

Andy

Click on my user name Delorean02378 to the left then choose "View User Profile". You'll see the album named 04389. Click on that then you'll see the photos.

[jawn101]

+1 to restoration here as well. It's rough for sure but it would be an awful shame to let one go to the pick-n-pull in the sky. I think it'd be resurrectable!

Weird note: did someone relocate the starter to the rear bulkhead by the resistor pack? If not, what is that thing? :)

[Bitsyncmaster]

+1 to restoration here as well. It's rough for sure but it would be an awful shame to let one go to the pick-n-pull in the sky. I think it'd be resurrectable!

Weird note: did someone relocate the starter to the rear bulkhead by the resistor pack? If not, what is that thing? :)

That looks like a cruse control solenoid. Also the box on the rear self looks like the ignition ECU.

[dvonk]

...take a look at the size of those rear tires, they barely fit in there.

wow, what size are those beasts?

[Delorean02378]

That looks like a cruse control solenoid. Also the box on the rear self looks like the ignition ECU.

Dave I think you hit it on the nose. I believe it's a Cruise control solenoid but I'm not 100% sure. Hopefully I'll get to find out one of these days.

[Morpheus]

I voted for restoration, mainly because that's what I'm doing to VIN4363... only 26 cars older than yours!

Good luck with it, I have a very similar journey ahead of me. :nana2:

[Delorean02378]

Good news! 48 Hours after providing DMC-Houston with the key code for 04389, the key works! The previous owner was able to unlock the steering wheel and put the car in neutral. Now I can have it picked up by a transporter. YEE HAW!

For those of you who don't have your key code written down somewhere, write it down somewhere!

Kirk

[Doogie]

Is the key code the one under the headliner on the driver's door? Doogie

[Delorean02378]

Is the key code the one under the headliner on the driver's door? Doogie


Correct, under the driver's door headliner and/or under your steering column.

[Kenny_Z]

I think I saw this one on Ebay when I was looking at the ad for Red. I'm glad to see it was rescued, I also vote for resurrection but I'm a sucker for any car that needs help :D

[Delorean02378]

Well, after 3 weeks 04389 has finally arrived. Already had an offer on the car before the guys got off the transporter who were taking pictures of it when I showed up.

Hard to believe a Delorean in this condition still gets a lot of attention.

I'm still unsure if I'll attempt to restore it or use it for parts. I do have the wheels and front grill, I stole them off the car and brought them home so I'd have something to work on while I waited on transportation. Just think, I'll have a (SEM trim black) freshly painted grill and a few other parts to install. After that and a wash it should be ready for the concours show :smile:

Kirk

[jawn101]

Well, after 3 weeks 04389 has finally arrived. Already had an offer on the car before the guys got off the transporter who were taking pictures of it when I showed up.

Hard to believe a Delorean in this condition still gets a lot of attention.

I'm still unsure if I'll attempt to restore it or use it for parts. I do have the wheels and front grill, I stole them off the car and brought them home so I'd have something to work on while I waited on transportation. Just think, I'll have a (SEM trim black) freshly painted grill and a few other parts to install. After that and a wash it should be ready for the concours show :smile:

Kirk

See? Just a few quick parts and you'll be rolling... c'mon, how can you part out a car that still has the original spare wheel? :)

+1000 to restoration, she looks sad... help her out! :)

[MartyP]

Yep RESTORE IT !

[Delorean02378]

A couple of promising photos. I'm shocked that the pontoon is in such good condition, and the torsion bars look excellent however it will need 97% of the interior redone, driver's side rear quarter panel and a ton of other things I have yet to look into.

At least it's home and I can start messing with it.

If there were any creatures living in it, they were baked alive today as temperatures reached 100 degrees in Nashville this afternoon.

[TheDutchTexan]

It is a sad truth that some cars have to die to give life to others. But if there is a chance to restore rather than part out I'd always vote restore. Live to fight another day.

[jawn101]

It is a sad truth that some cars have to die to give life to others. But if there is a chance to restore rather than part out I'd always vote restore. Live to fight another day.

Definitely. Parting a DeLorean seems worse than parting any other car, because once you strip off the rest of the car and sell it off to recover other cars, you're still left with the body tub/frame. That's almost as large as the whole car, so you won't save any storage space - and the only person I can imagine wanting a tub or frame would be someone rebuilding a car from scratch anyway, so why not just leave her as one piece and fix what's broken? Besides, it looks like your tub is in nice shape.

Of course, the other option would be to part everything but the tub and just junk that, but a worse crime to DMC-dom I can't imagine :)

My 0.02 but I'll keep putting it in until it's a whole dollar... and who ever said no to a free dollar? That'll buy you a NOS washer! :D

[Delorean02378]

After an initial clean up and some minor work, 4389 is slowly coming along. I have a loooooooooooooong way to go if I decided to keep it, probably 4 to 5 years.

As I order parts, the new goes on 15500 and the used part goes on 04389.

As you can see I've removed the Oh Uh plates. I attempted to title the car without registering it but TN requires you to do both. So believe it or not, this car has a current tag and registration. Since no Carfax was available at the time of purchase I was a little concerned of what the end result would be but I received a Clear title on the car. YEE HAW.

After a long day at work, it's nice to come home and have a project. Sometimes it relieves my stress and sometimes it's adds stress X 10 !

Here are a few pictures.

Kirk

[Delorean02378]

Check out this fuel pump after sitting in the tank for 20 years with 1/2 tank of gas.
It's going to take some serious cleaning before fresh gas can go back in this tank. I'm hoping to save the baffle assembly but I can't even see the nut yet to remove it.

[jawn101]

Check out this fuel pump after sitting in the tank for 20 years with 1/2 tank of gas.
It's going to take some serious cleaning before fresh gas can go back in this tank. I'm hoping to save the baffle assembly but I can't even see the nut yet to remove it.

Yikes....

[Chris Burns]

Check out this fuel pump after sitting in the tank for 20 years with 1/2 tank of gas.
It's going to take some serious cleaning before fresh gas can go back in this tank. I'm hoping to save the baffle assembly but I can't even see the nut yet to remove it.

Yummy! Nothing like old gas to whet a man's appetite:lol: I hope you restore this Delorean. It deserves to be saved!