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

[stevedmc]

No problem. On another note, my speedometer started acting funny about 30 miles ago.

At first it died completely. Minutes later it started working again but is now very bouncy. I suspect it is either the dust cap or a loose cable since it started working again.

I'm currently in Newnam, GA. I plan to look at the problem if I'm able to meet up with Ron tomorrow Otherwise it will have to wait until Saturday.

[Nicholas R]

No problem. On another note, my speedometer started acting funny about 30 miles ago.

At first it died completely. Minutes later it started working again but is now very bouncy. I suspect it is either the dust cap or a loose cable since it started working again.

I'm currently in Newnam, GA. I plan to look at the problem if I'm able to meet up with Ron tomorrow Otherwise it will have to wait until Saturday.

I would lube the cable(s) ASAP. If you're starting to bind up for some reason, you're not too far from a broken angle drive.

[stevedmc]

I would lube the cable(s) ASAP. If you're starting to bind up for some reason, you're not too far from a broken angle drive.

I have the long speedometer cable. Any suggestions on what product to use? I don't have any lubricant with me but am planning to stop at Walmart this morning.

Can I just disconnect the cable from the angle drive and lube there or do I need to disconnect the cable from the instrument cluster?

[Morpheus]

You will have better results lubing the cable from the speedo end. You know, gravity and all.

[stevedmc]

Look at Ron in action. I have better pictures but they aren't G rated.

[stevedmc]

Josh was kind enough to bring some spare parts to today's tech session. I discovered that my dust shield for the speedometer was broken and I replace it a few minutes ago.

Here is a pic of where the speedometer currently is. I estimate it hasn't been turning for about 150 miles.

[stevedmc]

You can't trust DeLorean odometer readings. Bill Robertson drove more than half a decade without a working angle drive (in the bad old days they cost more than $300 -- credit John Hervey for bringing the price down). Bill's odometer currently reads 43K, but actual mileage on the vehicle is closer to 100K.

[stevedmc]

That dust cap from Josh did a great job tonight. I drove almost four hours on it tonight with zero problems.

I've only got about a thousand more miles of driving until I get home.

Tomorrow I'm making a 5.5 hour drive from Charleston, WV to Evansville, IN.

Mountain driving is rough for a Louisiana boy but thankfully the car and my little carburetor are holding up fine.

I miss being able to use my redneck cruise control. There is a very good reason for not calling it a hillbilly cruise control.

[stevedmc]

It is a tad ironic that some of the more vocal critics of carburetion readily admit only driving their DeLoreans a couple hundred miles per year (some critics don't even have a running DeLorean, if they have a DeLorean at all). Empirical evidence and the historical record show that carbureted DeLoreans are regularly driven thousands of miles per year trouble free.

No one is saying that other forms of fuel delivery can't do the same -- only that carburetion has proven in the real world to be far better than some of its more vocal critics claim.

[stevedmc]

I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but yesterday someone pointed out to me that my AC belt was rubbing on one of my water pump hoses. There is a tiny nick on the driver side hose that isn't leaking but I am concerned about it.

Yesterday, before leaving Darren's house, I cleaned up the hose and tightly wrapped the hose with Gorilla tape. I also repositioned the hose mount so the hose if farther from the belt. My plan today is to pickup a spare driver side coolant hose to carry with me the rest of the trip just in-case.

I don't plan to change the hose unless I need to since it is a somewhat nasty job.

I've decided to also pickup a passenger side hose as well just in case.

I am currently in Charleston, WV. The hose made the 4 hour drive up here without any problems so I hope it continues to last.

After doing some research I believe I have found suitable cross reference parts. The bad news, is the closes store I can find with the parts are in Lexington, KY. The good news is, I will be able to stop and get some genuine Kentucky Fried chicken while I am there.

It is about a 3 hour drive (175 miles) from Charleston, WV to Lexington, KY. I plan to continue traveling to Evansville, IN and will stop there for the night.

Here is the cross reference information. I will update my cross reference spreadsheet with the info when I get around to it and verify the parts are suitable.


Driver Side Radiator Hose
-Upper Hose
1969 Ford LTD 5.8L
Gates 20983

Passenger Side Radiator Hose
-Upper Hose
1978 Chevrolet C30 Pickup RWD V8 5.7L Vin Z 350ci MFI Diesel
Gates 21262

I've checked and Oreilly's seems to be the best place to get these parts. The Autozone stuff looks to be generic and the bends might not work too good.