VIN 11596 Frame Swap - a rolling frame-off restoration

[Helirich]

Congrats! You deserve it.

Thanks for posting.

[82DMC12]

Congrats! You deserve it.

Thanks for posting.

Thank you! I drove the car to work on Friday and today and it's running beautifully. Really a joy to drive! I won't leave this thread though. It will turn into my ongoing restoration blog. Here are the items currently on my punch list:

• Re-check AC charge on a hot humid day
• Get louvers repainted / touched up
• Driver side kneepad brace is missing, need to replace it
• Re-install trailing arm shields (going to polish them up a bit first)
• Change transmission fluid (maybe middle summer / after 1000 miles)
• Get headlights aimed properly
• Slight clicking from driver side, seems to be angle drive related
• Check steering rack again, passenger side inner tie rod seems loose
• Clutch pedal squeaks a bit but doesn't appear to be leaking, continue to monitor
• Monitor transmission, the diff adjusting nut had a slight seepage after a test drive (one small bead of fluid hanging from the bottom of the casing). Wiped it clean and it hasn't reappeared though.
• Replace cross gate cable when a better one is available (DPI)
• Monitor a possible washer fluid leak when the tank is totally full
• Get fascias refinished again (25 years after the last time)

[Timeless]

Love this thread. Interested in your fascia repaint progress as I would like to repaint my original paint late '81 fascias in the near future. My plan is to utilize the DMCH paint codes.

[82DMC12]

Love this thread. Interested in your fascia repaint progress as I would like to repaint my original paint late '81 fascias in the near future. My plan is to utilize the DMCH paint codes.

Thinking back, I believe I had the rear fascia repainted shortly after I bought the car. I will have to go back into my receipts and see which paint code they used. I think there are two different colors of gray that were used? Based on this photo, does anyone know if I have the "early" paint or the "late" paint? I don't really care what I'm "supposed" to have (11596), I just like the color and want to keep it this way.

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[82DMC12]

I've been driving the car back and forth to work on nice days and everything is working great. I've also been doing a few small updates and projects here and there.

First of all I replaced the hood emblem with an NOS emblem. It wasn't totally necessary but it's an icing on the cake kind of thing. Here is what I did:

The emblem edges are not parallel to any other edges on the hood or fascia so you have to be creative with a method to make sure the new one goes where the old one was. I did not want to use a marker because I also intended on re-brushing the SS under the emblem.

I used wide painter tape to trace the top and side edges, using tape much longer than needed, this way I could remove some of the tape for the re-brushing but then use the outer edges of the tape to lay NEW tape over it, reestablishing my guide lines.

1. Set tape onto the hood as described, and extra tape on the fascia to protect it while re-brushing
2. Using a heat gun on LOW and using a plastic body pry tool, heat the edge of the emblem while constantly moving the heat gun, until you can slide the pry tool under the edge.
3. Continue heating the emblem in sections, just enough to get the tool to slide further and further with each new heated section. Eventually the emblem will lift away.
4. Remove the old adhesive as best you can with heat gun plus pry tool, then rags and mineral spirits, and finally with a razor blade if needed (No it did NOT scratch the SS)
5. Remove the tape directly above the emblem and about half of the tape on either side of it. This will allow you to rebrush the body where the emblem was.
6. Using a sanding hand block with 120 grit wrapped around it, move the block in one direction only using light pressure from half way up the hood downward to the edge of the fascia, continue until all trace of the old emblem is gone. Feather by doing a few passes, lighter and lighter to the left and right so it blends.
7. Follow the same sequence with the gray blending pad and handle for blending the body
8. Clean the area well with windex and towels, allow to dry completely
9. Overlay new tape over what remains of the old tape, there should be sufficient tape to re-establish the guide lines for the new tape.
10. Now that you have a new piece of tape for the top and sides of the emblem, you can lay the new emblem in exactly the same place as the old emblem on nice freshly brushed stainless.

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Here is the tape job after re-graining and getting ready to put the emblem on. The emblem goes under the crosswise tape, between the two parallel strips.









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Done! Easy 45 minute project.

[82DMC12]

Another day driving the DeLorean to the office - doesn't get any better than this. Fixed two issues this week - 1) Sometimes I had a clicking sound coming from the driver side of the car which was rhythmic with wheel speed, stops when the car is stopped, and doesn't change while braking. I recently had my original angle drive rebuilt by Grady and I replaced the lower speedo cable. I also put some tape on the white plastic adapter cap and put fresh grease in the lambda counter. Despite all of this, there is still a bit of a bounce to the speedo needle. I was thinking the clicking was speedometer related. Turns out it was actually my driver side parking brake cable end making slight contact with stick-on wheel weights. I had the wheels re-powder coated and balanced last year but didn't notice the issue right away since I had so much other stuff going on with the restoration. I was able to correct the issue by slightly bending the parking brake lever downward and also by holding the cable end more perpendicular to the disc while tightening the M6 locknut. This provided about 3mm clearance, and I am now click-free once again.2) I replaced all of my fuses and changeover relays as preventative maintenance since they were pretty much all 20+ years old. I found new Bosch relays from FCP Euro, a Bosch Lambda relay on Amazon (yep), and replaced all the fuses with genuine Japanese Bussman fuses. My breakers are already updated to Cole Hersee higher amp breakers and my fan relay is replaced with a quality three-way fused jumper. After replacing the relays, I started the car briefly, checked my A/C, fans, headlights, etc to make sure they work, then turned the car off and headed inside. The next day I was driving the car and it seemed quite sluggish off the line until about 3,000 RPM when it "woke up" and felt normal. No misfires or anything but it felt like I had four under-inflated tires. I got home and after the car cooled down I pulled the plugs, which I was going to do anyway, and all looked perfect. I then put my dwell meter on only to find new needle movement at all, as in, no signal on the orange wire. I also noticed the car was idling/smelling rich. I found the green wire that the lambda relay plugs into within the receptacle had come loose and been pushed down so that it could not make contact. This caused the lambda ECU to have no power and thus no control over mixture. After checking the connections again and bending the lock tab out, I had a solid connection and perfect idling again. This is the second time I have had female spades on a relay get pushed down and cause trouble. I think this is a common issue with our cars!

[82DMC12]

Not a lot to report this week, however I did address a few small issues, and of course, found a couple new ones!

• Replaced terminals on the idle microswitch, I had replaced them a long time ago with straight female spade connectors but now that I have an insulated flag terminal crimper I replaced them with the correct terminals. Confirmed proper operation of the switch by checking the black/green wire at the idle ECU. All good.
• Added a missing bracket to the driver side outer knee pad, this helps to stiffen it up and reduce squeaks/rattles
• Put some silicone spray on the electric radio antenna
• Detailed the engine bay and washed the car this morning to get it ready for a car show next weekend
• Identified a rattle this is mostly heard when the car is cold and warming up, it was coming from the engine bay area. I thought it might be the louvers or T-panel rattling but it turns out it is the engine cover. If I push down on the center rear of the cover between the hinges, the rattle goes away. I had the engine cover refinished and I think it's been rattling ever since. I will have to spend more time figuring out exactly what rattles, it might be the cover stay. The nice thing is once I get that rattle fixed the cabin will actually be pretty quiet.
• Had a great afternoon drive this weekend pushing the car harder and winding it up on city streets and just generally having a great time. Turned the rebound up one setting on both front and rear, I think the front is on 6 and the rear is on 5 but I will double check and post here. The car feels so solid, it's great.
• Only stand out issue is the loose passenger side inner tie rod. I was going to wait until winter to pull the rack out and look at it but I think I will do it sooner rather than later. It's really kind of annoying on the interstate but not so noticeable on city streets. The steering wheel has maybe 2 to 4 degrees of play - either the plastic cup or washer is damaged, or I don't have the two inner tie rod nuts tightened in the correct location to put the right tension on the joint. If I get lucky, I can fix it in an afternoon.
• Got my parking brake brackets clear-coated with clear ceramic so they don't rust again

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This morning I washed the car and did a quick engine bay detail with Aero 303 Protectant










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Met up with David Hudgins for coffee on the Plaza in Kansas City this weekend









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Duplicolor Clear Ceramic sprayed over plated parts helps keep them from rusting or flaking too quickly, I spray this stuff on a lot of parts before installing them. It also makes the parts easier to just spray off or clean with a cloth.

[Timeless]

Identified a rattle this is mostly heard when the car is cold and warming up, it was coming from the engine bay area. I thought it might be the louvers or T-panel rattling but it turns out it is the engine cover. If I push down on the center rear of the cover between the hinges, the rattle goes away. I had the engine cover refinished and I think it's been rattling ever since. I will have to spend more time figuring out exactly what rattles, it might be the cover stay. The nice thing is once I get that rattle fixed the cabin will actually be pretty quiet.

My engine cover hinges are original and causing cover rattling over brick paver roads & small road imperfections. Tightened the hardware but that only lasted a couple months. I have a new set that'll be installed soon.

[82DMC12]

My engine cover hinges are original and causing cover rattling over brick paver roads & small road imperfections. Tightened the hardware but that only lasted a couple months. I have a new set that'll be installed soon.

I had my engine cover over with another owner and he riveted a thin aluminum strip to the back side of the cover so that it doesn't flex anymore when it is open. Excellent upgrade, and invisible after re-painting the whole cover. I'll have to check my hinges but I think they are OK. I believe my issue is the prop rod/stay might be rattling while the cover is down. Should be easy enough to figure out.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I had my engine cover over with another owner and he riveted a thin aluminum strip to the back side of the cover so that it doesn't flex anymore when it is open. Excellent upgrade, and invisible after re-painting the whole cover. I'll have to check my hinges but I think they are OK. I believe my issue is the prop rod/stay might be rattling while the cover is down. Should be easy enough to figure out.

I've been wanting to do something similar to my engine cover. I always see it flex when I open it. Just have not decided to use fiber glass or another support like riveting metal.