So I spent 4(?) years or so slowly restoring/updating my running and driving Delorean, and as of 2 months ago, I consider the car "done". A joy to drive, and gets smiles everywhere, as you all know. About 1.5 years ago or so, someone I know said "my friend has a Delorean. Been sitting in his garage for years. Might sell it." So I made the connection, and we had periodically talked about it over that time. He finally got serious about selling it, and so I made a plan to go down to the outskirts of Cincinnati-a 2 hour drive from Columbus-with the intention of buying the car, assuming it was what he said it was. I took my car trailer. Frankly, I was stunned. I've rarely seen an interior this original on any classic car. The leather, body panels, dash, fascias, carpet-all perfect. It has the original cassette player, the original antenna. 6500 miles on the odometer. Wheels? no curb rash whatsoever. Turns out, the fuel pump apparently failed in 1993, and the car got parked indoors, and has sat since. Crank turns freely by hand. undercarriage looks good; a bit of rust on the bolts themselves, and some minor rust in one small spot where the coating has chipped, but otherwise very solid looking. All the documentation ws with the car, the original user manual and everything.
The down side: the clutch cable does not function, and appears to either be snapped or seized. no resistance at the pedal. the transmission(manual 5 speed) feels very gummy. and it has sat with the fluids in it for 30 years.
So, I bought the car. Loaded it up, and now have it back here. I need to come up with a game plan, or think I probably SHOULD. The good news is that most if not all of the work needed to be done, I have already done on my driver car. I made a spreadsheet earlier this week for all the parts I think I'll need(I basically would intend to update the suspension, brakes steering rack, top end of engine, rebuild alternator, rebuild cooling system). The total came to around 6k in parts. This is fine, as I am confident I can stay well below "underwater" on the car, considering what I paid for it(I think a fair price for such a well preserved car). But I feel like it's smart for me to try to come up with a holistic game plan. I would love your advice!
I made a point to not depress the brake pedal, or hand brake, to not risk caliper seizing. I know I will need to pull the wheels, calipers, and have the rotors turned. I have not decided on whether doing suspension bushings is necessary; I have the parts in the parts list for now. Obviously I need to pull the entire top end of the engine, replace all fuel and coolant hoses and associated fuel delivery pieces, and get the clutch working properly. Plan on pulling the fuel tank and having it cleaned, when I do fuel pump/filter. But in terms of order of operations, and things I'm possibly overlooking that could bear on these parts of the project, is there anything I'm missing? Thanks for the help. I didn't make it a mission to buy a 2nd Delorean, but I really do love these cars, and want to see this one back on the road, even if it doesnt stay with me forever.