BTTF Time Machine Build Questions - Ask Me Anything

[Mark D]

Why in the world would anything be "confidential?"

The confidential information I was referring to is related to the restoration itself, and not necessarily info about the original time machine and its parts, how it was built, etc. I'm talking about people asking "Hey could you post photos of the car from during the restoration?" No, I can't. Even though I worked on the restoration there is a lot of information that is not my property so I have no rights to distribute stuff like that. Another example would be someone wanting circuit diagrams or dimensions of parts that were recreated from scratch. Sorry, that info is not mine to give.

My understanding is to keep information from the for profit replica builders, when a hobbyist spent alot of time and research finding the part.

This is one reason why individual replica builders choose not to post information pubicly, but it is not the reason why I am unable to share certain things related to the restoration.

That's completely absurd. I'm no fan of replica building, but people building replicas with a high degree of accuracy doesn't detract at all from the movie or the original car. Keeping specific parts secret is stupid.

"Ooh, we can't let the identity of this specific part get out because then other people will KNOW ABOUT IT."

You were basing your response off of Josh's assumption that was not correct, but I get what you're saying. The reality is that nobody actually cares about other people building super accurate replicas, beause you're right that it does not detract from the movie or the original car. Nobody that I'm aware of is trying to keep the identity of any parts a secrect just so other people don't find out.

I'd personally love to see the accuracy of all replicas out there increase so the general public would have a more complete idea of how the car is supposed to look. The original was in disrepair for so long that we now have all kinds of toys and merchandise floating around that was created based off the original car when it looked wrong. The comically huge Mr. Fusion on the original 1/18 Sunstar is a perfect example of this.

In some cases I get why some people keep information secret though. ...

Think of it this way: If tomorrow you found a guy that had 100 NOS binnacles in his basement and was selling them for 25 bucks each what would you do? Your first thought might be to post that info publicly so all your fellow DMC enthusiasts would finally have access to perfect binnacles at a great price... Yay!

But what would really happen is one guy with 2500 cash burning a hole in his pocket would buy all 100. Then you'd watch your fellow DMC enthusiasts get screwed and pay $500 each while you scratched your head wondering what you did wrong.

After that happens a few times you start to learn that it's better to only share sources with a few people you know and trust and not on a public forum. Or you fork over the $2500 yourself to buy them all but sell them at a fair price since most of the people you're working with are your friends. This is why private forums pop up so people can work together to help eachother without getting screwed.