Getting better by the page :) I wonder if the PPR O-ring could have anything to do with the stalling issue you're seeing now?
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Getting better by the page :) I wonder if the PPR O-ring could have anything to do with the stalling issue you're seeing now?
No I doubt that because it will usually idle properly, a leak would create a constant high idle
March 11 2010
More Racetrack Nonsense and Some Pretty Pictures
The previous weekend I took 1768 out to the race track again, not to race but just as my car to get to the track for another one of my race weekends. This was my first short road trip with the car, driving about 120 miles non stop it was the longest the car had been driven in 9 years as well. I found out why the car would not start hot, the bad PPR o ring in the fuel distrutor, well when I say bad i mean there was only a small sliver of it left. Im amazed the car ran as well as it did with this vital seal missing however, I only got about 19MPG on my trip.
Once again I got to go on track with the pace cars at this race which was held at Infineion Raceway in Sonoma, Ca. fun!
( The day after I received my new O ring and This solved the hot start issue)
The beauty shots!! Note how high the front still is!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_EDfecgwxgBI/S5...0/IMG_5436.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_EDfecgwxgBI/S5...0/IMG_5455.JPG
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/101_2614.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...sDeLorean1.jpg
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http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/IMG_5427.jpg
March 24 2010
For the most part things were going well
I Passed SMOG easily which was a huge concern now relieved.
I had about 600 miles on the car under my belt. 400 of them with the angle drive in, however my NEW angle drive had FAILED. It could turn about 1/4 turn by hand or 360'with pliers, so it has stripped the dust cap and will not register speed, This was a huge disappointment! only 400 miles on the damn thing! back to Houston with it.
Also had my first roadside failure which was my own fault. The driver side coolant pipe near the nose of the tranny has been hanging down quite low for a while now and it finally bottomed out on a rail road crossing and burst the rubber hose. I had to Macgyver it with the electrical and duct tape I had in the car and refilled it with water out of a public water fountain a 1/8th mile off using 2 cups I found in the trash, F*ck what a horrid day, but better than paying for a expensive tow truck. Well that has been properly sorted with only permanent damage to my pride.
lately ive just been doing smaller jobs to feel proud about, like cleaning my rear suspension which had gotten quite dirty.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P3110002.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P3110001.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P3200019.jpg
I found why my louvers never open evenly, the mounts on the quarter panels are not welded on the same location side to side, the driver side is about 1 1/4" farther rear than the right. im going to have to drill the spot welds and TIG it in the correct place. Its amazing this passed quality inspection.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P3110004.jpg
I repaired some minor rattles in the doors and one in the passenger seat that I swear sounded like a relay clicking.
Then trunk cable broke too. great... atleast she still looks beautiful
http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P3200012.jpg
March 27 2010
Making Power on the Dyno
So today returned to the shop and dyno and I re installed the original factory catalytic converter ( which the internal metals had crumbled apart), minus the guts.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/DSC_0379.jpg
I cut it open at the seam and installed a straight 2.5" tube inside basically making it a "test pipe". It was quite a horrible ordeal to change out the cat but I have some reward for doing it, not much but its more power!
I was also hoping to get a better exhaust note but I cant tell any difference in the sound. However the torque, its off the chart even!
So my data disputes the myth that removing the cat on a delorean will gain 30hp. I gained 0.1hp and 4.6 ftlbs tq.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...Image001-1.jpg
April 5 2010
The car had been getting quite dirty so I gave it an over due bath, I installed new door weather seals so finally no more leaks through the doors hooray! note the repair section on the louvers.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P3270033.jpg
Removed the handbrake cover off for a cleaning, mostly for the switch as it turns on the dash warning light randomly while driving and never lights up steady when it should, need to remove the whole bracket for a good blasting and painting.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P3280004.jpg
fixed some door rattles by tying some vacuum tube to the lock rods that were rubbing the door frame.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P4040008.jpg
Took some time to organize the fuse box area, fixed a few more bad connections too.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P3280002.jpg
Ground Bus
The biggest and most rewarding job lately is installing a 4 ga. ground bus, this is still one of the best improvements I have installed in the car. I copied this idea from another DMC owner, Since the car's body is fiberglass its cant get a good ground anywhere, so it has lots of small grounds branching out to connect them. so I installed a large 4 ga. wire that every ground juction attaches too. Ive soldered every connection and used gold plated ring terminals with heat shrink.
Here the cable starts in the front frame with the radiator fan grounds.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P4020002.jpg
The most important connection at the radio bracket, I found a few wire that were completely melted away exposing the copper, no wonder my tach would read high with the load in the car's system. Also since ive owned the car the tach has never gone to zero with the key on engine off.
It would stay at 1k rpm, now it readys proper! This proper wiring has made all the gauges worked so much better.
There are about 11 wires to one bolt at the radio for all the dash lights.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P4020003.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P4020006.jpg
I tied the new ground cable in at every factory ground juction. I still need to finish the rear half, tie into the engine, ECU brackets, and fire wall. Here is a tie in on the center console.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P4020005.jpg
Apr 16 2010
Been fiddling with things here and there, recentering the steering wheel, working on my interior lamps. Tried out the stainless cleaner Bar keepers Friend, its like Ajax powder, shit is amazing, getting the car ready for its parade debut the next day in davis for the annual Davis Picnic day, also marked the 1 yr anniversary of picking the car up.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2738.jpg
Uncleaned:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100B2760.jpg
Cleaned:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100B2750.jpg
This bolt attaches the steering column to the steering shaft, its such a PITA to remove for recentering the steering wheel I wasn't able to remove the steering wheel, all pullers have failed, next to it is the clutch master.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2747.jpg
April 17 2010
Its been a Year, Lets Have a Parade
Picnic day pics:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...r/100_2761.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...r/100_2763.jpg
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April 24 2010
Front Suspension Overhaul and Lowering
Finally im rebuilding the front end, This was a dirty mess and in much worse shape that I had ever thought.
so here's some reference shots, from the floor to the top of the fender arch is is a whooping 26 1/4" the front suspension was definitely higher than stock which was already too high. The culprit that I found was that all of the nitrogen gas pressure in the shocks has migrated to the underside of the piston, this meant all that pressure was pushing the shaft out thus lift the car as well.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2741.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2742.jpg
Upper control arms before and after, took about of 1/2hr each of scrubbing and wire wheeling, had to use some heat to remove the real bad crud in the seams.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2856.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2857.jpg
after the arm was clean I TIG welded the joints for a bit more strength, also welded a boxing member to the lower arm and ball joint mount.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2858.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2859.jpg
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The big thing I needed to do to get the car lowered was cut the springs, I cut a whooping 2 coils, the coil on the left is a stock Mazda Miata front spring, if the cut Dmc coils are too stiff I could try the softer miata spring, they just need to be opend up abit to fit in the bottom spring cup. However the cut stock springs felt satisfactory.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2866.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2868.jpg
So since the front frame is still in bad shape, and I cant do all the grinding and welding required at home, the car needed to go back to my shop. Therefore I reassembled the front end with the cut coils which required no coil compressor, makes that much easier.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2870.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2869.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2876.jpg
Now she finally has the proper stance. there is no spring rubber isolator so it will be a bit higher when done. she now sits at 22 3/8" from the ground to the fender arch which is about 4" lower!
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2871.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2874.jpg
April 25 2010
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Took the car back to EGR
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2879.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2881.jpg
Crumple Tube Reinforcement
Took the left front off and started sandung the off the epoxy and rust. there was alot of flaking gunk jammed in there.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2882.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2883.jpg
I cut out some 14ga plates to reinforce the cracked and weak crumple tubes. These will be welded over the original crumple tubes.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2885.jpg
My friend Loren came over to help, nice to have someone help with the dirty work.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2887.jpg
Sanded off extension in preparation for plates.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2907.jpg
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May 4 2010
The passenger side is now also done, and the whole front end painted silver POR 15. The rest of the front end parts cleaned/seam welded, LCA boxed.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P4190033.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2925.jpg
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Done.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2938.jpg
Back home painting.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2973.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_2972.jpg
Lots of Paint
While I give the frame about 72hrs to dry i've masked off the black trim on the body for some SEM trim black after a light sanding with 400 grit and wax and grease remover. All the black plastic trim pieces had begun to fade badly over the years, this car has seen alot of damaging sunlight.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_3007.jpg
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Front spindles painted.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_3006.jpg
May 9 2010
Reassembled the front end back together, it was much easier now that all the parts were clean, I put a little bit of light oil on the bushing sleeves but otherwise the stock bushings were not in horrible shape. Im still debating on going to full urethane bushings as im not interested in making the car rougher over the bumps.
So besides much better forward visibility, the ride wasnt much different with cut springs, the awful squeaking/ groaning pigeons being stomped on noise up front is much worse, the front shocks are just wiped out and are the cause of the squeaks. Changing them became a big priority.
I then did a few more minor jobs including recentering the steering wheel for the 5th time and getting it wrong the 5th time( still cant get teh wheel off inside). I packed the car up and headed off to Thunderhill for another race weekend. She drove fine on the 100mile drive. I realigned the front end at the track and got proper toe in, and finally properly centered the steering wheel, it's a lovely thing.
Saturday night my friend Fish and I are talking and decide to drive back to his house in Concord to pick up his '27 Ford hot hod model T with a '49 Caddy engine. I drive there and back no issues, had to go much slower on the way back so the Rod could keep up, 85mph down, 60mph up, the car loves to do 80+mph. 132 miles each way. THe '27 became the pace car for the Sunday race start. So at the end it was a nice 530miles of driving which is nearly doubling the mileage I had put on the car since Ive owned it.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_3008.jpg
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That's a lot of masking paper to paint the black trim! I'll have to take a closer look at that stuff next time.
May 15 2010
Time for a Joy Ride
With proper suspension alignment the car handled impressively and I was keen on more hard driving so I went on a fun 50 mile long backroad drive along the Sacramento River with some friends. I had no problems at all.
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May 22 2010
Roadtrip Preperation
I had a huge road trip coming up and I had a long checklist of repairs that had to happen first, I jumped right in with some big items:
The water pump in the car is not original and is at least 10 or so years old with under 5k miles but was making noise so I changed it. I discovered the alternator was also making a bad grinding noise, bearings are shot however it still charged fine So another one would be needed .The water pump job took about 6 hrs and wasn't that horrible. I found whoever did the pump last time has replaced the stock rubber hoses with silicone.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_3277.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_3281.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_3283.jpg
May 28 2010
Replaced all the car's stereo speakers and installed Ipod integration!!
Driving home down I5, 4 miles from home a battery light comes on and water temp goes up, I cut off the engine and coast to the next exit. It appeared the new water pump pulley had walked off the shaft, there was no fixing it on the side of the road but I was just a few miles from home so I decided to try and limp home .
I had to let her cool down 10 minutes between each mile run before getting too hot, I made it home ok without overheating the engine. This was my second roadside failure.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...97684_3063.jpg
ll.
May 30 2010
Back to ripping the engine down again, i've gotten quite fast at removing the rear facia, its supposed to be like a 30 minute job, I can do it under ten.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P5290003.jpg
Evertime I pull the pump the valley fills with coolant that I have to dry up, if left in long enough it can eat away at the block, but that black POR15 is there to help stop that.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P5290005.jpg
The water pump failure was the poor press fit of the stock steel pulley on the new pump shaft, they dont like going on more than once so the aluminum pulley is an upgrade which my old pump had. A trip to the shop where I had a hydraulic press and the pulleys were swapped
old pulley now on new pump
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P5290002.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P5290013.jpg
CS130 Alternator Swap
So also my alternator which charges just fine had a horrible sounding bearings so it needs to be changed, I can get a bolt in replacement from Delorean part vendors for about $200, but I also had that alternator from my 3.0 engine, it needs a spacer on the bracket and I had to swap the pulley from serpentine to v belt for it to bolt on the 2.8 delorean engine, unfortunately it didnt last, the diodes decided to blow after just a few minutes.
Another alternative is to use a 110amp alt off a '91-94 Saturn, it needs the same spacer and pulley treament but is only $80 new, has a warranty and is avalible at most auto store around the country.
Original set up, 3.0 on left Dmc on right with the v belt pulley I need to re use
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P5290001.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P5290012.jpg
I made an aluminum bracket that goes inside the right side knee pad below the dash board, this will house the Ipod integration on/off switch and I can add more switches that are hidden and dont detract from the otherwise factory interior. Also received a replacement angle drive from DMC Houston. (this one has been working for many thousands of miles now)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P5290011.jpg
Started making some quick props for the car in the road trip I was going to partake called the Rental Car Rally, basically its a cheap copy of the gumball 3000 rally however you have to dress up and have a theme with your car. A friend and I decided on the obvious theme: BTTF
I made the time control panel, key pad out of carboard and screen shots printed on paper.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P5290007.jpg
June 6 2010
After trying Napa and Kragen, nobody seems to know what a CS130 alternator is ( the '91-94 Saturn alternator) but finally I found another store that knew what I was looking for. It took some modification to fit such as the pulley change and drilling out the mount boss hole to about 7/16 " and adding the spacer I made for it to fit the delorean's bracket, I wired it up and it worked great. Worryingly it made a bit of whining which went away after a few minutes of breaking in.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P6040039.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P6040040.jpg
later that day I went on a little drive again with another friend, Clark has a sweet 23k mile original '80 Louts Esprit. This baby has been well cared for and was all original, even the green carpeting. Clark is a old Cadillac enthusiast but still he loves the British Sports cars.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P6040014.jpg
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We met up in Davis, had some food, compared cars making the usual lucas jokes and after sitting in the sun for 15 minutes I started the car up fine but the battery light was on. I did all the diagnosis I could with my DVOM including hitting the alternator in fustrastion, nothing helped. It was puting out maybe an amp or two so our drive was canceled and I had to drive 12 miles to my shop with just 10.2v left. I took the alternator apart and found nothing visibly wrong. I had 3 working diodes good looking comm and brushes. Disappointed I drove home after I charged the battery up.
The next day I got the alt warrantied and installed the new one. This one has lasted thousands of miles and is still working today. Im still very happy with it and consider it a great and cheap upgrade.
Does your friend still have the lotus? I'd love to see it one of these days :)
I pretty sure he does, havent seen him in a while as he is always neck deep in Cadillac restorations but i'd love to have him bring it along whenever we get around to doing our own cruise.
I hope that's soon. Stephen stopped by with his big ass truck on his way thru town the other night, and we discussed maybe getting the crew out to the 17 mile drive in Monterey. I can't think of a road/locale better suited to our cars and we should take advantage of it!
And I still wanna do that route through Copperopolis one of these days
Definatley count me in on that, I also wanna go visit the norcal abandoned D too.
June 12 2010
More Dyno Time~Voltage is Power!
The new alt is working great, and besides gluing some more weather stripping on, changing the lower engine compartment hinges, I had just been driving the car daily to test the alternator and trying to weed out any more weak points. The car developed a small miss at lower rpms with light throttle input, I was thinking a clogged injector. I checked out the ignition system first, cleaned the plugs which looked great besides some dirty threads. But no faults were found. It was not a horrible problem, it was noticeable only to me.
I diagnosed further by driving the car on the chassis dyno and saw the car was going lean during the missing, but plenty rich at high throttle and high rpm. This meant there was some sort of intermittent fuel starvation, again I thought clogging in the injectors or fuel distributor.
However the car ran great when pushed harder ( more pressure in the injector lines maybe?) So for the fun of it mostly I installed a different and stronger ignition coil to see what effect that would give. quite a lot in fact.
Compared to my previous best run on the dyno which was ran without the air cleaner, to the new coil, with the filter and cold air intake installed, I gained nearly 10hp and just about 13 ftlb of torque! so my engine with hollow cat, cold air intake and MSD coil but otherwise stock now puts out 114.1 Whp and 143.6 Tq
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...Image001-2.jpg
June 15 2010
In less than one week I wound begin my long road trip to LA to start a rally race that finished in Tombstone AZ. I had to keep cracking on my upgrade and repair list. By now summer was here and the temps were in the high 90's and No I still ha NO aircon. I could have neglected a few other mechanical items and spent the money and time on repairing the A/C, looking back I wish I had but I had decided that I didnt have the time to do the job properly and would end up doing it twice, besides I grew up in Arizona summers so i figured I could handle it.....
You may notice below in the pic there is a yellow shock on the front suspension, my #1 mechanical concern was now handled: changing the horrible squeaking front shocks. Had I left the noisy front shocks in the car Im sure I would have turned around before LA and gone straight to a mental hospital, the squeak was that bad! I was able to borrow a set of shocks from a friend, Ill explain more later but these Bilsteins were not made to go on a Delorean....
I did another round of "routine" maintenance jobs like engine and trans oil change, coolant flush and an all round fastener check.
The low rpm miss I reported was getting worse somedays and better others, it was a large worry of mine but since the car ran just fine at higher RPM (like on the highway) I felt it wouldnt be a huge problem.
I also changed the front wheel bearings as they were getting very loud, louder than the engine on the highway. These gave a good fight to press out the bearings but some heat and ingenuity got them out. new bearings which cost just $14 each went in easily.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P7140084.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/P7140085.jpg
Are you still running the MSD coil? Any other ignition changes (plugs, wires etc) are you still running the ballast resistor?
Yes over 2 yrs later yes im still running the MSD coil W/O the resistor. I still have not had any ignition failures with the coil even when its being fed a full 14v. The plugs and wires are still the ones from the DMCH kit I installed the first week I had the car(except for the coil to distributor cap wire which I removed the Houston wire with the additional resistor in exchange for a solid core wire I had laying around). later on you will see I had trouble with the impulse coil in the dizzy, however that issue had symptoms since I got the car running and not caused by the non stock coil. I still believe that removing the ballast and changing the coil was the best improvement I have made to my stock engine and I don't understand why other people dont have similar results.
It was great to read the story behind your D and all the work you have done. Would you get another D or is this the one and only?
Ben
You know a good friend has asked me that and I decided recently that yes I will someday get another. As the car sits today in july 2012 I'd value the car at $18-20K and if I was offered $25K+ in cash I think I would sell it and get another car. But that's not likely. There are plenty of things i would like to do differently to my next car, For one im am done with "rolling restorations" and will go to the more conventional and effective way by mostly disassembling the car first and starting from the ground up. I also had a small discussion on the old .com forum about a full on Race Delorean id like to build from a basket case vehicle.
So where did you find the 110amp Saturn Alternator? Searching on the major auto parts websites just returns 98amp units.
I think Clint is pushing the resistor removal agenda just to torpedo my ballast resistor covers. It's a conspiracy, I tell you!!! :lol:
"Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" :biggrin:
Ha, good one. Well Jon you didnt have those sweet covers back then, perhaps I would have kept the ballasts if such a fashionable cover existed......
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris 16409
I found it at Napa I believe, Let me try to get the part number off mine.
The alternator Napa # is N4591
Ok folks here is where it gets interesting:
June 19-21 2010
The Rental Car Rally Pt 1:
My friend and I spent some time preparing for our theme in this rally which yes was mandatory, there was a prize involved too so we were going to give it our best. I created a cheap but effective Doc costume from a paint suit, tool belt, some tape and a wig, he found the appropriate parts to make a Marty outfit from various thrift stores, and a friend let me borrow his Flux capacitor prop and RCA camcorder so we werent short on props.
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After more double checks and tweaks to just about everything the day had finally came for the longest and and probably fathest the car has ever driven in 4 days throughout its 29 yr life. I also installed a temporary system to help keep cool, A " Cool Suit" I packed all the tools and reasonable spare parts I could anticipate needing for the trip along with clothing and survival gear needed for the 4 day journey, She was loaded up for sure. I also wired in a twin 12v outlet harness connected directly to the battery to power our accessories.
With radar, GPS, and plenty of tunes on the Ipod, My friend Andrei and I headed south towards LA on I-5 from Sacramento.
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Getting into the hell that is the LA area.
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Another 450 miles on the odometer before our first issue, Popped the fuse that powers the windows and radio while going down the Grapevine, simple fix but a pain to get to as alot of stuff was on the parcel shelf.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_3496.jpg
Our only source of cooling, ice water powered shirt that pumps cold water from a cooler behind the seat with a 12v pump through vinyl tubes sewn on the shirt, It is highly effective at cooling what ever it touches. But it lasted only 80 miles ( 1 hr or so before needed more Ice). We took turns driving every fuel tank (280 miles) and averaged 28mpg @ 80 mph. it went well.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_3497.jpg
Andrei and I ready to start the race after a break in Corona,ca
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11pm, at the race start at a parking lot near some railroad musem. We got into character and dressed the car up with the props, there was a crowd of maybe 100 people cheering when we showed, definatley the hit of the party.
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The other teams and vehicles:
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These guys were later ticketed for police impersonation.
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Team Dude.
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You make a good lookin' Doc, lol.
Very funny, thanks a lot for sharing.
John
I remember that cool suit story :)
The Rally Pt 2:
Midnight, the rally began and we were off to the checkpoints, Not without nearly getting stuck on a curb leaving the parking lot in the overloaded car. Cars started off one at a time and told we simply had to photograph ourselves at the noted location to prove we went there and then continue to the next one, there were 10 places to stop between LA and Tombstone AZ. The winner is whoever covered the trip in the least distance ( using odometer readings) and won $1500 cash. As the name implies, you should rent a car ( to make logistics easier for people attending from far away I guess) but this was not required. While no part of the rally was Illegal, there were quite a few contestants that were ticketed and one that was arrested on felony charges, this was the real down side to this event, it wasnt full of respectful or sober participants, so it was more of a rolling frat party that a gentleman's rally. A Twitter feed kept us informed of the Hi jinks and mayhem other teams created for the ones that followed ( mostly they were being assholes and disrespecting the public places the check points were). This greatly assisted us in not getting hassled by the man...much.
But there were alot of fun parts, The best section was a terrific run up Mt San Jacinto on Hwy 243 at 2AM, the first time I could really test the car's handling properly in the curves, it was the best time ive ever had driving my Delorean hands down. By morning we reached the Salton sea check point 2 and the we were able to capture some beautiful photos of the car.
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The rally was much longer than we anticipated and became quite frustrating at time when we got lost, the summer heat wasnt helping.
On the home stretch to the finish line we ran into the law outside of Tucson:
it was 3pm Saturday and we had both been awake and driving for 32hrs straight, so we weren't driving the car as straight as we could have. we were given a warning about the swerving if we would pose in costume... in the heat... we obliged.
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Soon after this we hit another electrical failure, the power wire to the ignition coil was loose and cause the car to stall, another quick fix but it was stressful until I found the problem. Also the fuel pump began to whine quite loudly, but this was due to the fact the fuel was low and very hot. The temperature that day was over 107'F. We were cooking too. However the car NEVER overheated I was very impressed. A fresh tank of fuel cooled the pump and all was well.
At 5pm we finished the rally on the edge of heat exhaustion, our rally was 711 miles long, about 6o miles longer than the winning team who didnt get quite as lost. However we did win the theme prize, a poorly replicated gas pump handle on a plaque painted in gold. Though we didnt claim our prize at the after party since we were long since passed out in the hotel. Driving a Delorean 36hrs straight with NO A/C in 107' weather really takes it out of you!
The Rally pt 3:
The next day we had to rush back West to San Diego where Andrei lived. We made excellent time mostly due to the speed at which we returned, Ill say this, the speedo wasnt very helpful on the way back since it only indicated 85 which I suspect was a bit...low. we stopped by the beach to get pictures with the sunset, a great place to part ways after a hell of a trip. The 500 miles north to Sacramento by myself was the final part of the trip and probably the least pleasant, not at all the car's fault, I stopped 3or 4 times along the way to take some naps in the car before I finally got back home at 10am Monday morning.
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car was not exactly clean
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_3569.jpg
So the race was 711 miles and the grand total was around 2300miles in 60hrs. I've never been so proud of my car before or since, it had performed incredibly, the enjoyment was really only flawed by my stubbornness to hold off on the AC repair.
June 22 2010
No work was done, I was just marveling at all the filth that accumulated on the car. out of the 2300 miles that weekend about 50 were not on paved roads, they were "shortcuts"
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Wow, that old engine pic shows how far your car has come! I'd love to take a long trip like that one of these days. We should see if David wants to caravan with us somewhere.
Aug 19 2010
Little Improvements
I hadn't driven the car in weeks which was unsual but after a full weekend I was bit tired of being in the car. I placed another $300 order from DMC Houston, new LED window switches to replace the dying original window switches. My console looks a bit blue in this picture huh? I bet it could use a re dye.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...100_4463-1.jpg
Also have new door seals, screw set, pedal pads, and other goodies.
Now where to put that "Delorean" script?
worn out pedal covers:
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I found some liquid form of BFK, and found it easier to apply but it still likes to go down in the door seams and make a mess. but still it is the business when it comes to cleaning stainlesss.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/100_3807.jpg
September 4 2010
Air-conditioning at Last
Finally all my AC parts had arrived, one of the main reasons I hadnt driven the car is so long it that I kinda vowed not to until I made the AC work, I was that put off after the Arizona trip.
I ordered the parts From Hearvy and over all it was a nice kit, the AC pressure switch was the wrong thread pitch so I was out another $5 for a generic one with coarse threads from a local auto store. Installing the hose was a bit of a pain, It would have been harder without a lift too. The hardest part was getting the Drier tightened with the huge fittings and small spaces but with diligence and determination I was able to get it air tight. I now had a complete and possibly working AC system but it would be and other week or so until I could fill it at a friends place who had the compressor and filling equipment.
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October 10 2010
Ive been doing some more work here and there but mostly driving it, enjoying the summer weather, Finally had the AC charged and working! Oh what a great thing It blows real nice an cold, all the way to freezing, man I love it, it totally changed the way the car feels to drive with cold air in the face while the windows are up.
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New compressor: You can see that Im still running the Ghetto throttle return spring, soon that would change
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Hit 40k miles. Another great feeling
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louvers have undergone a great many hours of sanding and now the painting is nealy done
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Now for the first time in a year now, I can start the car up and it will idle at 700-900rpm all day at any temp, I had a few other threads out to help diagnosis the faulty idle air system, and the problem was the least likey of all the suggestions, the ecu was dead, well amongst others like an incorrect relay. I bought a good used Leerlaufregler ( idle ECU) off Turbobricks.com the volvo forum for just $50 instead of the $190 that vendors ask, the new unit has part #008 (vs dmc 009) and has 6 pins on the right plug ( #7 and 10 that the dmc unit doesnt) for and AC clutch input to raise the idle up some.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/101_4025.jpg
Next I removed the rear fenders for painting of the rear pontoon and repairing of the louver strut bracket.
Ive posted pics of the issue before and finally I could correct it:
The strut mount was nearly an inch off to the rear which caused the louvers to open at a horribly crooked angle. The fender was off in record time and was off to my shop.
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and bit of drilling and a sharp chisel and the bracket is off
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Realigning and a quick Tig weld later
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Back home begin sanding the pontoon and painting with SEM Trim Black, I used about a full can for this section
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Great work!Quote:
Originally Posted by vwdmc16
Did the new ECU plug in or did you have to modify it any?
I believe there were some plastic pins in the connector, used to block dust i suppose from getting in the normally empty wire slots. Those were easily removed with pliers, then it was a plug in situation, same rpm values too.
Nov 22 2010
Changed the oil with some valvoline VR1 20w 50 which has more ZZDP in it to help engine life. Its also a bit thicker than what I was using before, as I had noticed after a long or hot drive the engine oil light would flicker a bit at idle. The exhasut was also leaking again, ive been driving it in the rain alot and im impressed at how well it grips in the wet considering the tires are nothing impressive. I have been noticing more and more interior noise and road noise latley, maybe im just paying attention.I found that if i drive real smoothly and at or under 65mph i can net over 27mpg which is far better that the 19-22mpg my lead foot usually earns, however im too impatient for that.
Here's a bomb shell, the D had now become the only car that I own that I can drive now. My '89 Corrolla has a intermittent fuel cut out if you give it much throttle, im thinking its the map sensor now, My Isuzu trooper was having problems with the EGR valve thus I couldnt smog it, I sold my Ghia a while ago, and my Honda z600 project is years off from driving. Oh the joys of having too many cars.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...mc/p_00059.jpg
Jan 6 2011
Spent the holidays in Houston which ment the obligitory trip to DMCH for another $400 batch of parts, some gaskets, seals, updated headlight switch, new defrost switch to match the window switches, and a bunch of other bits.
Nothing wrong when I came back, expect for a slow leak from the RR tire, so I took it to my friend Loren's Goodyear shop, loving the free service.
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EFI the Beginning
I found a '88 Volvo 760 with a PRV v6 at the local junkyard, this has a better fuel injection system. the car had 290k miles! and the interior was incredible, it must have been well loved right up to the point it was crashed.
so I Finally found the EFI I was looking for, a Bosch LH jetronic 2.2, I took the whole harness, ecu, throttle body ( which is bigger than the Eagle premier TB and it bolts on) and air intake with MAF. all for a bit over $100
Now I still have to fabricated a few things before i can attach it to my 2.8 engine such as fuel rail attachments, a better TB system since im quite sick of the stock dual throttles, then mount the MAF to that system along with a EFi fuel pump. After that it should be very simple to install and require a bit of tuning with injector sizes to get it running nicely
Better volvo TB
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So I began stripping the harness of the unessesaries, headlights and park light circuits, etc this slimmed up that harness quite a bit:
before
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after
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Jan 26 2011
Installed a new radio deck in the dash, car now has BLuetooth speakerphone, a 3" video display and a bunch of neat features, no more CD player though. but I could now watch BTTF in my car
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...IMG_3415-1.jpg
Also finally found a good windshield washer bottle container on Ebay, just $20 instead of the $99 ones from a vendor.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/IMG_3483.jpg
Trying out some ideas for facilitating the bosch EFI, Chief of which is the need for a better throttle body system as the stock twin throttles are too sensitive mid throttle, can not quite reach WOT, and require a fast blip of the pedal to full set back to idle, even the heavier springs ive installed have not helped.
This is a volvo 740 16v TB, its very simple to mount and is a great size, and the proper TPS will screw on directly, I just need to make an adaptor plate, a rod to connect the two and modify the throttle spool linkage. I would like to retain the stock air filter system to really help keep the engine appear semi stock ( as to fool a smog tech un familiar with DMCs that it is stock) so I will have to build another W pipe to connect the two throttles together, into a MAF then the air filter.
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Did some firewall cleaning too, ive never liked the bracket on the far side fire wall that holds the ignition ballast and the engine light switch ( which doesnt fit in the bracket properly) so untill I design and create a better looking one ive, clamped the ballast under the lid prop bracket ( which I made from scratch as well if you can tell)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/IMG_3490.jpg
Also took a trip to Plesanton,ca and picked up a RR quarter panel from a CL ad. just $100 as it had been from a fire victim car, I will use for stainless body work practice or patch panels, in the mean time ill clean it up and display it in my house, Yeah I was single...
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Wow, that spare panel looks a LOT better now. Amazing how nicely this stainless cleans up.
Oh yeah, scrubbing and regraining can do huge wonders
Jan 30 2011
I began installing the windshield washer bottle and container, however all but 2 of the rivnuts have spun so I had to rip them out.
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The new container with the remains of the original.
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Bottle back in with new washer pump.
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I had to use self tapping screws for now until I can get new rivnuts and epoxy them in.
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Fir the first time in a decade the windshield has a working sprayer, now with new hose and nozzle.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/IMG_3505.jpg
Feb 9 2011
Bought some more SEM black and painted the windshield header.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/IMG_3562.jpg
Next I worked on one of the last remaining sections of the car I havent cleaned, the top door jams. to do the job properly the doors should come off, but honestly removing the doors scares me, not for fear of breaking the torsion bars or damaging the heavy door but fear of losing my incredible door alignment, ive never opened the door of any other delorean that had opened or closed as well as 1768's do. So I just cleaned the best I could.
This is how bad they were, the driver side is next.
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After 2 hours of scrubbing, brushing and cutting out the old silicone sealant I resealed the steel roof panel with new sealant then painted with some SEM.
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While the paint was out, I freshened up the airbox and installed the NOS sticker
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April 9 2011
I responded to a Craigslist ad requesting a delorean for a photoshoot for Comstocks Magazine. I was payed $50 to have it in the background of a shot about a local business man opening a new construction site. I was also give a neat hi res pic of my car, very cool.
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It was a fun experience, they were trying out a few styles and using a fog machine.
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One of my axle boots failed and began throwing grease around but changing a boot out is simple.
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While the rear was up I changed the trans oil even though the oil only had about 4k miles on it. I was eagar to try a new synthetic lube called MTL. Ive heard that it helps older syncros tremendously. at $13 a quart I was sure hoping it would. The only issue was that this oil was NOT to be used in transaxles with high offset hypoid gears or rear differentials as it cant handle that shear stress. After a call to Redline they confirmed that the oil was ok to use in the DMC's UN1 tranaxle as is was a low offset hypoid gearset.
Afterwards I found this oil to do the trick and live up to its hype, the 1-2 shift was improved considerably and 2-3 no longer buzzed. I highly recommend this oil if you own a wearing transmission.
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lots of brass coming out the oil drain, syncros dying
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