I'm a new owner (3957) and I'm having a fair amount of cosmetic work in addition to doing an EV conversion (Tesla Model S small drive unit, 60-85 kwhr depending on what can fit).
I live in a rust prone environment (Maui, HI, which has high humidity, high rainfall, and I'm close to the shore). I plan to store the car in the garage with a dehumidifier, but naturally when driving the car will be subjected to salt air.
I'm considering having the roof box replaced with a stainless one. There seem to be two options:
1. the Delorean go product: https://www.deloreango.com/us/stainless-roof-box.html
2. Delorean Industries: https://deloreanindustries.com/1-sta...ly-base-gen-3/
I have heard that the DMCH part is the same as the Delorean Go.
If money and time were no obstacle, sure, why not replace any interior part with a stainless equivalent in my environment since I want to minimize rust. However, money and time are always obstacles. So, I'd be interested in any experience anyone has in this area. My understanding is that this is one of the most involved repairs out there. In fact, Delorean Industries removes the windscreen to do it, and often that implies getting a new windscreen because the windscreen often breaks in the removal process.
I really have no evidence the roof box of 3957 is in bad shape, but we also haven't looked carefully. On the other hand, I understand that pretty much every Delorean in almost every climate will have significant rusting here. Is that correct?
How much should I care about rust here? I guess the risk is that the doors become inoperable or unsafe? How frequently does that happen?
Like many of you, owning a Delorean has been a lifelong dream of mine. I don't plan to ever sell it. Additionally, getting serious repair will be a major pain for me (likely involving shipping the car to the mainland). So, that's the motivation to just do the work now while the car is on the mainland. On the other hand, this restoration is expensive (I think the ballpark might be 10-14k all told depending on what it looks like whey they open up), so if I'm going to spend that much, the additional cost of sending it back across the ocean isn't a huge part (maybe 2k to transport the car back to a Delorean specialty shop that could do the job). It's not an easy choice.
Finally, if anyone has had this job done at DMC Florida or Delorean Industries and has any guidance, I would welcome it. So far, I've had good experiences with both and have been a customer of both, but I would welcome any feedback from the community.