Engine bay cleanup/restoration advice

Last weekend, I attended my first car show that had another DeLorean. It gave me the opportunity to compare mine with another and it motivated me to do attempt some cosmetic improvements in my engine bay. Below are a couple of pictures of my engine area as of a couple of years ago:
Attachment 19799 Attachment 19800

I'm looking for some input on what I can do to clean up the look of my engine in addition to what I have thought of. I am trying to improve the look of the stuff that you see at the surface and not disassemble much. Here are some of my observations:

• Vacuum sticker on engine cover is yellow, wrinkled, and ugly - can replace with new sticker
• Cover over ignition coil was broken and poorly repaired by PO - looking for a used one, but may have to buy one from a vendor
• Retaining brackets and clips on lower engine cover are rusty - easy to refinish or better to buy new?
• Air filter assembly looks dusty, even though it's clean - can this be refinished with paint?
• Air filter assembly sticker is old and peeling - can replace with a new sticker
• Coolant tank cap is rusty in the pictures, but I replaced that last year already
• Bracket that holds the resistor is rusting with black paint flaking off - would like to remove and refinish
• Lots of rusty bolts in multiple locations, like on the intake manifold, compressor, fuel lines, etc. - Is it easier to replace or refinish all of these?
• Engine bay light has never worked since I owned the car. Where do I start with troubleshooting this? Is it controlled by the switch by the resistor?
• Coolant hoses - although they are not in need of being replaced, they look faded. Any recommendations on making them appear new again?

What else do you see that I failed to mention in my list?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stainless

Last weekend, I attended my first car show that had another DeLorean. It gave me the opportunity to compare mine with another and it motivated me to do attempt some cosmetic improvements in my engine bay. Below are a couple of pictures of my engine area as of a couple of years ago:
Attachment 19799 Attachment 19800

I'm looking for some input on what I can do to clean up the look of my engine in addition to what I have thought of. I am trying to improve the look of the stuff that you see at the surface and not disassemble much. Here are some of my observations:

• Vacuum sticker on engine cover is yellow, wrinkled, and ugly - can replace with new sticker
• Cover over ignition coil was broken and poorly repaired by PO - looking for a used one, but may have to buy one from a vendor
• Retaining brackets and clips on lower engine cover are rusty - easy to refinish or better to buy new?
• Air filter assembly looks dusty, even though it's clean - can this be refinished with paint?
• Air filter assembly sticker is old and peeling - can replace with a new sticker
• Coolant tank cap is rusty in the pictures, but I replaced that last year already
• Bracket that holds the resistor is rusting with black paint flaking off - would like to remove and refinish
• Lots of rusty bolts in multiple locations, like on the intake manifold, compressor, fuel lines, etc. - Is it easier to replace or refinish all of these?
• Engine bay light has never worked since I owned the car. Where do I start with troubleshooting this? Is it controlled by the switch by the resistor?
• Coolant hoses - although they are not in need of being replaced, they look faded. Any recommendations on making them appear new again?

What else do you see that I failed to mention in my list?

---

In case you have not seen it this, this thread is great! Alex did an amazing job, lots of good info here. http://delorean6575revisited.blogspo...ent-front.html

A few answers here:

• Air filter assembly looks dusty, even though it's clean - can this be refinished with paint? A: Dusty? It looks like it has the typical nylon injection molding swirl patterns in it. You can try to wet-sand it with 600 or higher paper and see if it looks better. Try a part of it in the back first. Don't paint it.
• Coolant tank cap is rusty in the pictures, but I replaced that last year already. A: Replace it again. And keep the car dry.
• Engine bay light has never worked since I owned the car. Where do I start with troubleshooting this? Is it controlled by the switch by the resistor? A: Yes, that's the switch. Bad lamp, bad ground, bad socket, bad switch? Easy to troubleshoot.
• Coolant hoses - although they are not in need of being replaced, they look faded. Any recommendations on making them appear new again? A: Try any one of a number of good rubber restoration sprays. Wet a rag and rub it in. Black Again is one. Meguire's Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner is another. NOT ArmorAll or vinyl "conditioner". If the hoses are old then replace them instead and solve two problems.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stainless

What else do you see that I failed to mention in my list?

---

• Old, grey-colored A/C drive belt. Replace.
• Missing the red cap on the A/C Schraeder valve (recharge/gauge fitting) behind the A/C compressor. Blue cap is visible.

Considering the rusty coolant overflow cap, I'm surprised at how new looking your stove pipe is - did you replace it?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NightFlyer

Considering the rusty coolant overflow cap, I'm surprised at how new looking your stove pipe is - did you replace it?

---

My recommendation is to ditch the stove pipe and hot/cold diverter valve all together. Chances are the valve is broken anyway and is doing nothing but blocking flow in your intake plumbing. Spectre makes cold air intake ducting that fits perfectly to create a cold air intake. Or the DMC vendors sell essentially the same cold air intake duct kit. It's good for maybe a HP or two. It also will give you a little better engine sound.

I'd also disconnect your fuel lines and paint the top of the fuel distributor. You can use regular metric bolts in place of the banjo bolts to make sure no paint gets inside the FD. You can get the banjo bolts replated through a variety of sources to eliminate the rusty look. I sent all mine to Hervey and he swapped them for fresh plated ones when I replaced all my fuel lines, but I've also had lots of parts plated through DMCMW.

Other rusty bolts can be easily replaced, but pay atention to the markings on the heads of the bolts so you don't replace any 10.9 grade bolts with anything lower grade. Also, the intake manifold bolts that attach the W shaped pipe are M7 which can often be tough to find in the right length.

I'm also a big fan of the stainless steel label kit to replace the stock labels that will yellow and wrinkle up over time. If you have a few extra bucks they really do add a lot to the appearance of the engine compt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NightFlyer

Considering the rusty coolant overflow cap, I'm surprised at how new looking your stove pipe is - did you replace it?

---

I didn't replace it, but the PO likely did. It definitely looks to be newer than 30 years old.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark D

My recommendation is to ditch the stove pipe and hot/cold diverter valve all together. Chances are the valve is broken anyway and is doing nothing but blocking flow in your intake plumbing. Spectre makes cold air intake ducting that fits perfectly to create a cold air intake. Or the DMC vendors sell essentially the same cold air intake duct kit. It's good for maybe a HP or two. It also will give you a little better engine sound.

---

Ditto on ditching the stove pipe and hot/cold diverter valve.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark D

I'm also a big fan of the stainless steel label kit to replace the stock labels that will yellow and wrinkle up over time. If you have a few extra bucks they really do add a lot to the appearance of the engine compt.

---

I believe that Tamir is the sole source of the stainless steel label kit, and while I don't have one (yet), I've seen a few installed and they are definitely extremely nice and highly recommended!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark D

My recommendation is to ditch the stove pipe and hot/cold diverter valve all together. Chances are the valve is broken anyway and is doing nothing but blocking flow in your intake plumbing. Spectre makes cold air intake ducting that fits perfectly to create a cold air intake. Or the DMC vendors sell essentially the same cold air intake duct kit. It's good for maybe a HP or two. It also will give you a little better engine sound.

---

Do you have any pictures or links so I can see it?

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/334145...dmc-12/page-4/

This is a writeup I did a few years back on the cold air intake. Lots of pics and explanation.


You can buy the spectre air duct at Autozone
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=422454_0_0_

The part number is 8741. It's the 4" black duct...you can get chrome or blue if you prefer also...I'd stick with the black

In this pic you can see a small chunk of the duct that I cut off sitting on the intake manifold. The length it comes in is slightly longer than you need. The rubber boot ends thread on and off so it's easy to cut to length.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?at...4&d=1371067712

Here are pics of the diverter valve for anyone not wanting to click the cardomain link. In my humble opinion it's a complete piece of crap.
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?at...2&d=1371067709
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?at...3&d=1371067711
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?at...5&d=1371067713