Yup 90% of the labor in a paint job is under the paint!
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Yup 90% of the labor in a paint job is under the paint!
Got my hood and front spoiler back on today...
Attachment 64267
Replaced my inertia switch & installed it at the '82 relocated position next to the hood pull. According to the service bulletin, this should have only taken 30 minutes. It took more. No surprise there.
Doc. Are you tellin' me the DeLorean Fanatics....are full of shit?Quote:
Originally Posted by iflights
Recall labor times are based on average mechanical skills. More importantly, they define what the company will pay for the repair to be accomplished, regardless of how long it actually takes. This is why most auto techs do not like warranty repairs.Quote:
Originally Posted by iflights
It's taken me a lot of work of measuring with a lux meter & modifying lenses, but I've finally replaced my headlights with LEDs that I'm fully satisfied with. These have daytime running lights built-in that consume only 0.9W each (only the two outer DRL strips illuminated), the low-beams consume 15.0W each (only the two outer illuminated on low plus DRL strips), and the high-beams 30.7W each (all 4 illuminated on high plus DRL strips). This is around a quarter of the power on low-beams and 60% of the power on high-beams but they're MUCH brighter - not in a single blinding spot, but over a wide spread. The light output is tightly controlled to be ~10% below the legal maximum allowed in Australia by the ADR, and aimed within a couple degrees of perfectly optimal for its falloff pattern. You don't want to know how many pages of spreadsheets worth of measurements I took while trying to optimise everything and modifying the existing units, heh. There's still more fine-tuning I could do but I'm happy with it for now. I also re-grounded my headlights too while I was at it, to give the old Halogens as much of a chance as I could with my comparisons. Re-grounding gave me another 0.8V or so to the headlights, which really isn't much but hey now you can't blame that for the Halogens seeming dim by comparison.
Apologies in advance for my cheap $140USD phone over-exposing lights during night-time photos.
The bulbs themselves:
Attachment 64303
Low-beams comparison, Halogens on the left, LEDs on the right (not properly aimed, they were just in while I was testing):
Attachment 64304
High-beams comparison, Halogens on the left, LEDs on the right (not properly aimed, they were just in while I was testing):
Attachment 64305
Real-life use case (practice run during a hired filming event) in a nearby well-lit shopping centre car park: engine off, low-beams on. The most important thing to look at here is the woman lining up the shot on the left - her knees are brightly illuminated but the rest of her is mostly lit from reflections off the concrete, not the lights themselves. These lights won't be blinding anyone! :)
Attachment 64306
Finally, I took apart, cleaned, and painted white the insides of the indicator lights. Painting a reflector white usually means less light directly ahead but more light to the sides - something I thought would be good given how recessed they are, at least until I can get around to doing the front side marker flashing mod. But more specifically, the reflective chrome coating had completely disintegrated off one of my indicators and you could see that it looked darker than the other one, so if I wanted them to match my choices were paint both or buy a new one. I haven't found a good chrome paint locally so white it was.
The cleaned-up good-condition "chromed" one on the top with the painted white one on the bottom for comparison:
Attachment 64307
Better than when it left the factory in 1981. Two months of meticulous refinishing work on my DeLorean door hinge/torsion bar area.
The last photo shows how it looked when it left the factory, just as I started chipping the messy silicone off. Needless to say that if someone spent as much time as me at the factory, they would have been building one car a month.
http://content.colinbennett.com/dmc/...inement_01.jpg
http://content.colinbennett.com/dmc/...inement_02.jpg
http://content.colinbennett.com/dmc/...inement_03.jpg
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Wowowowowowow. That looks amazing. Mine looks...very much like that before pic, but with new seals and Heninger’s brackets. Nice, very nice work.Quote:
Originally Posted by C.Bennett
Cheers Jon. Really appreciate that mate. Yeah, it's been bugging me for a while and it was finally time to take it on. Definitely one of the most laborious and mind-numbing jobs yet, but it's always a nice moment when you get to this stage. Phew!Quote:
Originally Posted by jawn101
Wow..very nice...if your bored you could visit..ad bring your brushes...lol
I pulled my drivers seat and started pulling the skin off the seat. Also pulled the skin off my finger pulling the hognose rings off. It will be interesting how to get those rings back on where the headrest skin is clamped way deep into the foam.
It's quite a workout pulling the old rings off. There are so many and you kind of do a snap pull. Not sure if you could cut the rings.
There are "hog ring cutters" that make this job so much easier. Google them and see where all they can be bought. It is well worth spending $15 on them. If you don't have "hog ring pliers" buy a pair of those, too. Using regular pliers will frustrate the hell out of you doing this job.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bitsyncmaster
I can't remember how we tackled affixing the head rest hog rings... but I do remember using a lot of zip ties on the seatback to pull the material forward so a hog ring can be fastened to the material. So it was probably the same trick. Also, we used plastic grocery bags to get the new seat cover over the headrest foam. I know some people use spray lubricants (I believe silicone?) instead, though.
And yes... I bled a LOT while doing this job. Bill Robertson's passenger seat foam will always carry plenty of my DNA! haha
Way back when I did my seats, I used a heavy duty pair of "diagonal cutting pliers" to cut the old rings off. When it came time to reassemble, I used 12/2 copper wire with the insulation gone (or use the ground), cut into strips. You can either wrap the copper wire around or in a lot of spots you can use a pair of pliers and twist the section closed. The copper is really easy to work with compared to steel hog rings and they work just as well - I don't have any sections on any of my vehicles that came undone.
Initially, I found this worked when I had an old '67 Mustang. I bought new seat covers but didn't know about hog rings. Thinking dejectedly how the project would take another week to receive the rings and tool, I look over and there was a roll of 12/2. :hmm:
Quote:
Originally Posted by C.Bennett
Amazing! I did mine several years ago as I wasn't a fan of all the gooped on silicone but it didn't look that clean!
Amazing! So beautiful work! Is there a special solvant or solution that works best for removing that black silicone?Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael
Most of my cleaning is done using that purple liquid bottle called Super Clean, which work amazingly on a lot of surfaces.
I know that Mother wheel cleaner is used also on some area as well.
Cheers Michael. That means a lot. Yeah, it's one heck of a mind-numbing job. I instantly regretted starting it - but now that it's done, I'm glad I did - although I did consider selling the car at least twice during a few heated "f*** you DeLorean" moments. I'm sure we've all been there! Glad I made it through the trauma.Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael
Thanks Victor. Sadly, there's not. I tried a bunch of solvents before realizing that none of them worked - at all! Don't waste your time. The only thing that worked was a bunch of small craft/sculpting tools to literally scrape the sealant off flake by flake. Weeks and weeks of scraping to get rid of every last bit! I then sanded the metal and finished with a 3M blending pad to get it as nice as possible for refinishing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Victor
Cheers guys! :cheers:
Just in case anyone isn't following the build thread
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c2aba479_c.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f8e636cc_c.jpg
video from the shop:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGyfZSoeT6E&t=39s
Nice :thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by white out
I tried some heavy diagonal cutters and they could not cut the rings but they do work better pulling the ring with more bite. I see there are some small steel rods where that head rest get clamped. The new skins did not put in the rods so I guess we use the old ones. I got the skin over the head rest just working it. After it was on I had to shove my hand up there to flatten the seams on the top stitch. I will use a plastic glove next time. When you get old your skin is so thin I got some blood just from the friction moving my had under the skin. Also there is no cut for the back release lever so either skin goes on either seat.Quote:
Originally Posted by louielouie2000
I relocated the wiring harness from above the intake to below the metering unit so I could install the new throttle covers.
Attachment 64379
I fear I'm going down at least a little of this path. Just trying to reglue a trunk seal right now, and the effort is mainly elbow grease. But there's a bunch of places where the sealant is a mess - I don't know if it's factory or later restoration. But I'm interested to know what tools you found most useful? I've had a little luck with a dremel and wire wheel attachment, but that's not going to work everywhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by C.Bennett
I got the 10 hog rings into the head rest bars. I had to use long nose pliers for those. First one took forever but it gets a little easier after the first. This is more work than I thought. I would defiantly find a place that does seat covers and pay to have it done if I had not started. I assume I should stretch the bottom end on first before doing the center "bars".
Yeah. That's what I did. It was clearly going to be a ton of effort. Taking the rings off is easy but replacing them wasn't a skill I needed to learn. I paid $125 to have my seat restitched and reattached. Well spent. The only thing I haven't done myself to date.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bitsyncmaster
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
It's a little late for you, but zip-ties would have been your friend for this step.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bitsyncmaster
Thread the zip tie from the back of the head rest bar loop, through the seat skin "tab", and then back/around the head rest bar loop back into the zip tie. Thread all of them in place, then tighten them together, pulling the tab back towards the bar loop. Then continue the rest of the installation with hog rings.
The long nose pliers work pretty good for area that you can't get the larger and shorter hog ring pliers into.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackb
Those covers are just what my car needs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trstno1
Just put in the rear LED lights and a new rear harness!
Trying to figure out how to do the sidelights now and I want to change my headlights to LEDs but not sure what to buy...
I got my headlights on amazon
The LED's...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The Housings with halos
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Toby at Delorean NW also sells an LED replacement set.
Ah, "California" and "SMOG". Two dreaded words depending on where you live in America. :umm:
My last ever smog test is done. The anxiety attack is over forever as my car will be traveling with me to Scotland next year, where the car will be exempt from MOTs from the end of 2021.
Great to go out with some solid numbers. "NO" being a huge improvement from 2018. Might be my new injectors and properly adjusted Dwell. Who knows. Either way, I'll take it.
Happy days…
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I've been prepping the car for a trip this weekend where I am going to put around 500 miles on her. Since my last issue of my fans cycling due to a couple of dirty pings on the bulkhead connector (and cleaning that) a bit, I have wanted to thoroughly give all of the bulkhead connectors a bath.
Attachment 64392
What I am doing is soaking each connector in a mason jar filled with a Vinegar/salt solution for 20 minutes then afterwards I pull it out, dry it off, and scrape the inside of the female pins clean with a dremel bit. I then rinse with a Baking Soda/Water mix in order neutralize oxidation and of course dry it off. I then pop the connector/pins with QD Electronic Cleaner to remove the moisture. When I get all of them clean, I am going to apply Dielectric Grease on the male pins on the bulkhead and plug em' in which will most likely be tomorrow. As of this writing, I have 7 of 8 bulkhead connectors cleaned up
Attachment 64393
Note the shininess of the bulkhead connector on the left compared to the corrosion built up on the one on the right.
The picture below is of the corroded connector in the above picture after its bath.
Attachment 64394
Try Tarn-x. Soak it for about 30 to 60 seconds. Then I use a solvent to rinse it.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBaker4981
Dielectric Grease is non-conductive, you don't want to put it on the conductors after you've done all that cleaning. The grease should be applied to the outside of the plastic shell so that when you connect them, it forms a seal.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBaker4981
Decided to redo the inside, and starting with the carpet.
With dielectric grease on the connector metal pins, the metal still makes metal to metal electrical contact but the grease forms a moisture and oxygen barrier to prevent corrosion ... at least that is what I've heard but I could be wrong :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by dmcman73
I spent about 5 hours working on the restoration today. All of the cast aluminum parts that need to go out for TIG welding are ready to go (rear hub carriers, front knuckles, transmission case), the exhaust manifolds are ready to be sent out for machining, all of the steel parts that I'll be welding up are ready to go (dust shield, flywheel inspection plate, transmission dipstick tube), and I only have 4 more items that need to be cleaned up before everything is ready for zinc plating... There's ~140 items being plated! And I've got about 10 other items remaining to clean up before they're ready to be sent for powder coating.
My spreadsheet currently shows me at 83.7% of items ready for coating, and I should be able to wrap up most of the remaining stuff this weekend. I'm sure you all know this... but damn, this is exhausting. It just seems like it never ends!!
Baby got new shoes! How fast they grow up.
Today I took the D for a ride on its new tires (Hankook Kinergy). I'm pleased, very pleased.
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?15992-What-tires-are-you-running-on-Its-been-8-yrs/page4
Also changed:
- Lugnuts (using: 2x1.5 Dodge Caravan Intrepid Stratus Neon Factory OEM Stainless Lug Nuts. Search eBay for listings). These are shinny polished SS. The originals (as best I can tell from mine) were more grayish and a duller finish. The new ones look good but they are more noticeable than the originals given the brighter appearance.
- New hubs. For whatever reason, my hubs have some of the finish scratched off, showing the underlying black. I got a set of new ones for 897 (darker rims) but they are a shade darker than my rims. So that is somewhat confusing and disappointing. I might look into spraying the original hubs if I could get the right color.
The center caps on the early-style grey wheels "should" be a couple of shades darker than the wheels themselves. It's very common to see them faded/oxidized, and peeling (revealing the black plastic underneath), though.Quote:
Originally Posted by nkemp
I got to join one of those birthday drive-by's on Monday. You guys heard about these? Kids stuck at home through the COVID crisis, celebrating birthdays alone is no fun. So why not get a few cars to do a drive-by, horn-honking birthday celebration. A cruise night I like to go to (not in 2020 of course) has organized a few of these for local kids. Gives the classic car owners a chance to get out too.
The video was taken by the boy's mother. It was his 7th birthday. It rained a lot earlier in the day or I think we might have had more cars. It was still a good turn-out. And having a few extra Hot Wheels DeLoreans still in a box in the basement came in handy... I gave him one through the passenger window :)
https://www.facebook.com/541701166/v...ZMOL0L3friKQgm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan
Thatd be a cool thing...though maybe not honking the delorean horn, since it sounds like a dying llama.