I found my driver front lower balljoint nut was trying to escape which would have been real bad if its plan hadn't been foiled.
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I found my driver front lower balljoint nut was trying to escape which would have been real bad if its plan hadn't been foiled.
Took the binnacle off and removed the instruments, a spider had found its way in there and died behind the clear plastic right below the speedo!
Also glued on part of the black surround on the binnacle's edge as it was becoming unstuck.
How complicated a job is this? I may need to pull the binnacle to get at the upper speedo cable sometime soon and I've not found a decent guide on binnacle removal.Quote:
Originally Posted by MML
Had to do it three times now, almost can do it in my sleep!! It's really easy. You just have to undo six nuts and off it comes. You disconnect two wiring connectors and unclip the speedo cable before you lift it off entirely though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Accipiter
It helps if you have a spine like a circus acrobat as it involves lying upside down in the footwell!
http://dmcnews.com/Techsection/binnacle.htm
It helps enormously to remove the driver's seat, and if at all possible the steering wheel. Just the seat will be enough to do it easily though. Lay on your back in the footwell and as was already said - 6 nuts, 2 clip connectors and the speedo cable.
+1 Tempted to replace all the bulbs (minus the battery light bulb) with LEDS/SMDs. Anyone quickly know which bulbs I need for the whole illumination?Quote:
Originally Posted by Accipiter
Ozzie did a write up on this. There should be a link on his profile!Quote:
Originally Posted by SIMid
EDIT - Here it is
Thanks mate! I did see the thread, but thought someone might know off the top of their head. Bookmarked! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by sdg3205
I have both of these problems... Fortunately the spider is tiny so I'm going to ignore it until I replace the binnacle.Quote:
Originally Posted by MML
More importantly, what type of adhesive did you use for the black plastic trim piece? I haven't fixed mine yet because I wasn't sure if I should use regular trim adhesive from a spray can... and if so, how was I going to control overspray.
Cheers.
Steve
Those little farkers can find their way in anywhere!! He even had the cheek to die in there...Quote:
Originally Posted by mluder
As for the glue, I just ran a bit of bog-standard superglue in behind and held it down with a clothes peg. If you do the same, be sure to leave it a while so the fumes evaporate away or it may fog the clear plastic!
Did some deep cleaning in the trunk area and replaced 4 missing M5 riv-nuts in random locations of the access panels. Next up is a making a new carpet board that fits properly. My original is warped pretty bad over the tire well. The new board will be 1/4 inch masonite so it should be twice as durable than the original. FWIW: I don't carry the useless spare anymore.
Why not? Even if it's crap, isnt it better to run it than a blown tire if you have NO other option (like no cell service for AAA)?Quote:
Originally Posted by DMC5180
Just curious, from what I can tell it's still a decent spare.
I agree. I mean the spare is pretty much useless but I'm pretty sure it could get me to the next exit ramp or at least onto the back of a roll-back truck/trailer. I actually drove on mine a few years ago because I wanted to see if it would hold air. It was a bumpy ride but it holds air surprisingly well. In 2 years the pressure dropped from 60 to 40psi. Not too bad all things considering.Quote:
Originally Posted by sdg3205
Snap - I did likewise last night! Before and after shots below.Quote:
Originally Posted by DMC5180
Have modified the ground lead according to Bitsyncmaster's suggestion (use of 10 AWG ground wire to shifter mount bolt).
Results in a more stable dash (lights), a bit higher Voltage = +.1 Volt, more stable fuel gauge, fuel warning light now comes on close to 1/8 of the scale (before it started to flash reaching 1/3).
Voltage now doesn't drop that significantly as before the change has been made (then a drop to below the 13V mark was "normal" when either lights or original fans came on), now it stays at +13V when fans or lights come on.
Next job is modifying ground wiring of fans and head lights.
The fans already go to frame ground, but the OEM wire is a little small. I should probably up that ground wire AWG.Quote:
Originally Posted by WelmoedJ
The Headlights are the ones to wire to frame ground. That will just about remove high ground currents back in the relay compartment.
That's the intended route I want to go.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bitsyncmaster
I also have in the works calendar your ground changes for the relay compartment.
For now I'm going to replace the fans for those new low current ones.
Big day for me today, took the car for its first NCT (National Car Test) inspection, (required by law), it would be the equivalent of the MOT in the UK, not sure what it's called in the US. Happy to say it passed with flying colours. The only possible issue was the rear side marker lights, apparently they'll mark you down for having them, so I just taped them over. You don't get them on cars over here.
Also, I was out for a quick spin this evening, pulled into a garage forecourt to turn around, and got ambushed by two photographers! Spent the next half hour letting them snap away. Hope to get some of the shots soon. I'm finding it hard to get used to this new-found popularity!
There isn't one in the US. You can pretty much drive complete crap here with bad steering, one working brake caliper, and no brake lights here and nobody cares until a wheel falls of and you run someone over. Some states/areas do emission testing.Quote:
Originally Posted by MML
I stopped carrying it a few years ago. A calculated risk I chose to make. I liked the extra storage space when packing for long road trips and the fact that most of the long trips involve other Deloreans too. Finding a spare would not be an issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by sdg3205
I took the car to its first cruise night. Lots of admirers and no disrespect. The car was running so well today - it felt faster and the engine was running much smoother with no lugging/lurching under acceleration. I hope it stays like that!
Last week I crossed 69(lol),000 miles without realizing it. Which irked me because I was looking forward to it for all of the 68,000's. Caught this pic on the way home last night though.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...c/IMG_1898.png
Sexy time!Quote:
Originally Posted by jackb
Picked up the Delorean last night after the expensive rebuild on the box. Wow! Changes smoothly and that feeling of compression of slowing down in 3rd lifting off the thottle is gone. Hope to take her for a gentle cruise this long weekend. :)
I just got a state inspection: check function of turn signals, headlights, and brake lights; look for "check engine" light; make sure windshield is not cracked.Quote:
Originally Posted by DMCMW Dave
In the old days, they had a skid pad and other fun stuff ...
My wife and I lament the lack of CA state inspections every single day. We came from MA and NY before that where such things were mandatory and though annoying, at least provided the slightest bit of assurance that the cars on the road weren't total garbage. If you took your own cars to a place you trusted to go the extra mile doing your safety check, you'd definitely leave at least feeling confident in your own car.Quote:
Originally Posted by Farrar
Here we see cars driving around with no bumpers, no hood, no working lights, viciously bent wheels, broken windshields, you name it. Cars here don't rust, not even a little bit - so people think they're probably fine to drive forever with no (non emissions-related) maintenance.
As long as you aren't putting out one single PPM of smog over the limit, that is. Bent wheels, no hood no lights and no windshield? Get that thing on the road! One extra hydrocarbon molecule in your exhaust? F!@K YOU!
I think Georgia inspected my check for the tax, but that was about it. Didn't even look at it when I registered it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Farrar
Forgot to mention that they also checked the horn.Quote:
Originally Posted by Farrar
$10 well spent. :lol:
Finally finished installing my new fuse box. Mine was a pretty typical example of an original fuse box with melted fuses and new fuses spliced inline to replace the melted ones:
Attachment 10869 Attachment 10870
Now I've got all the fuses back in one place and it's much tidier.
Attachment 10871
I also stupidly poked my headliner with my hot soldering iron, so now I've got a nice hole in it. I've been wanting to buy new headliner anyway.
Question for the group. Is what Kevin described here "typical?" I.e. do 51% or more of the cars out there have melted fuses in their 31 years on the road? I wonder because my car has no fuse box melting evidence. There are plenty of other typical issues on the car (angle drive for example) but melting fuses has not been one of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin
Is your horn original and if so... did they laugh at it?Quote:
Originally Posted by Farrar
Cheers.
Steve
Yes, I think it is. My car was very well kept over its life, but still had melted fuses.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan
Today I drove it to work. One last trip before the major surgery this weekend. Tonight I pulled the lower engine cover, rear fascia, stiffener, impact absorber, muffler and heat shields. Cleaned and shined all the muffler hardware - still shiny perfect yellow zinc under the inch thick blackness!
Tomorrow I will pull the T-panel, headliners and drive axles, then keep cleaning things until the engine removal brigade arrives Saturday morning....
My guess is yes. I think the connectors used on the OEM box were marginal and when you get oxidation with age it gets hot. Mine had shown sign of heat on the fuel pump fuse but was still working. If any of your fuses don't pull out easy, look closely at it and you will see it has overheated.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan
This was my daily driver, not the DeLorean. However, no, my D horns are not stock, just for the record.Quote:
Originally Posted by mluder
Mine are... my wife says they sound like a Barbie Power Wheels. Maybe it's time to start a new "what aftermarket horns do you like" thread :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Farrar
Mine was definitely worthy of being laughed at a few years ago. It was once described as sounding like a dying giraffe.Quote:
Originally Posted by mluder
Before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksVCUsomU6w
OMG that original horn is so sad! It is a dying giraffe!
Cheap generic auto parts store horns can do wonders. 12 years old and still going strong...Quote:
Originally Posted by vwdmc16
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InMhkDUw8Bs
Not too bad... Very simmilar to the original. What did you use?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan
I like the original European sound. Some one once said an American horn sounds like, "GET THE FU@K OUT OF MY WAY!" While the British sounding DeLorean hors sounds like "excuse me... would you mind ever so much if I just... could I please pass through... thanks."
Cheers.
Steve
http://store.delorean.com/p-6956-ass...-low-note.aspxQuote:
Originally Posted by mluder
Believe it or not, these are the straight forward ones right off of the DMCH website. I figured one of my horns wasn't chiming in properly, so I bought one each of the low and high note. Super easy to install and for $15 each, quite reasonable. I highly recommend them!