How to maintain your Delorean for less than $500 a year and put 10,000 miles on it

[stevedmc]

Man I need my silly little plastic car back. I got home last night and now my geo metro has a leaking fuel tank.

I was starting to get excited about the forum being down. My hope was I would no longer have this thread to update but it looks like it is back

Anyway, I got my car back from the shop Friday and did a little work to it since then. I will update the total either tonight or in a day or so.

Saturday I installed an electrical connector to one of the dome light wires. Yesterday I figured out another nice mod for the center ac vents (costs nothing) and last night I removed my new carburetor/manifold and put the old one back on. Updates and cost will be included soon.

[Farrar]

Steve, your $500 annual budget must not include tires. I just spent $650 on tires and a front-end alignment on my daily driver. Even without the alignment, it would have blown your budget when tax was added!

[stevedmc]

Steve, your $500 annual budget must not include tires. I just spent $650 on tires and a front-end alignment on my daily driver. Even without the alignment, it would have blown your budget when tax was added!

My $500 budget includes whatever I spend on the car for maintenance. If a person were to total up my expenses for the year minus the radiator/coolant (which insurance ended up replacing anyway) and the Peugeot 604 Manifold (which I am going to remove and sell), I am only at $135 for the year.

A little over a year ago I replaced my 10 year old tires with a complete set of Primewell tires from Firestone. The cost was about $375 including all taxes. On a $500 budget you don't replace all of your tires at once. You replace them as needed. At $375 for a set the cost for once tire would be about $95.

The cost for an alignment is irrelevant as well because I get free alignments for the life of my car at Firestone.

[Farrar]

The cost for an alignment is irrelevant as well because I get free alignments for the life of my car at Firestone.

Your Firestone must be better than mine. I had to argue my way up to the regional manager once because the local Firestone purposefully evacuated my R-134a in order to charge me for more "service." (Yes, I had proof.) Without assurance that the technician had been fired, I decided never to go there again.

[stevedmc]

Your Firestone must be better than mine. I had to argue my way up to the regional manager once because the local Firestone purposefully evacuated my R-134a in order to charge me for more "service." (Yes, I had proof.) Without assurance that the technician had been fired, I decided never to go there again.

Wow. I wouldn't go there on a $500 budget. Anyway, I have found Firestone at the Cortana Mall in Baton Rouge to be most helpful. When I had my first alignment done I was told no by many places, including Firestone, until someone refered me to the Cortana location. They have a guy working there who is older than dirt and ain't scared of nothin. Needless to say, he is the guy who does my alignment work.

[Michael]

On a $500 budget you don't replace all of your tires at once. You replace them as needed. .

I can't be sure but....Are you being serious?

[stevedmc]

I can't be sure but....Are you being serious?

If one tire runs over a nail and the others don't do you replace all of them or just the one with the hole in it?

Also, our cars are rear wheel drive. Our rear wheels will wear out before the front tires. Worse case scenario is I will have to replace two tires at a time costing $95 each.

[DMCMW Dave]

If one tire runs over a nail and the others don't do you replace all of them or just the one with the hole in it?
.

OR 3) Patch the hole.


Actually the real answer would depend on the condition of the other tire. If it is very worn compared to a new one, you get both. If the matching tire is no longer available, you get both. If the damaged tire is relatively new AND still available, buy one.

[stevedmc]

OR 3) Patch the hole.

Awesome idea. Although, I tried that with the radiator and it didn't work out so well.

[Dracula]

I managed to wear through three of my tires on the DeLorean in 2 years, so; yes, I do replace them as a set. For my 1967 Rolls Royce; it hasn't moved in 20 years, so you better believe that I'll be replacing all 4 at once. When working on older cars, or if you have a spiteful ex-girlfriend, it's fairly common to replace all 4 tires at once.