My DeLorean Journal
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Front Speakers in.
Today I finished installing the new front speakers. They sound pretty good. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the back speakers... 
I took my Headlight switch apart to figure out why it wasn't staying "clicked" in parking light mode (its a double push button- one push for parking light, push again for headlights) I found that the contacts were dirty and loose.
I cleaned the contact up and bent them closer together for better contact and coated them with dielectric grease. works good now.
I finished taping up the harnesses in the center console and reinstalled the radio cluster and center console. I zip tied up the harness that runs behind the passenger knee pad because it was hanging within sight.
I cleaned and greased (with dielectric grease) the light sockets on the doors, I decided to give up on the door LEDs, they just didn't look as good as the original bulbs.
I also removed the vinyl that I had covered the binnacle (gauge pod) with, I just did not like it. I have a dash mat coming in the mail, hopefully I will get it on the 2nd, and that will cover the cracks. I ordered it from CarCoverGuys.com I will post a picture of the mat when I get it in.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Door LEDs not so good...
My first day to work on the D since getting back from a weekend camping trip.
Today my eBay items from DMC(
I started installing the LEDs in the doors but I wasn't happy with the way it looked. its definitely brighter, but the LEDs are too close to the lens which causes a center dot of light rather then the full illumination from the incandescent. I put that on hold until I can figure something out, the first thing I'm going to try is sanding the "lens dome" of the LED flat to help diffuse the light and not focus it as much.
Next I removed the driver seat, I wanted to check under the carpet for any more mouse droppings. The seats are attached by bolts that go through the floor board, I figured that there was no way I would be able to remove the nuts, but the came
right off. The nuts must be stainless steal and the bolts looked like the are brass. Anyway got the seat out and cleaned under the carpet. Not too much under there, just some sand/dirt. I cleaned all the driver side carpet with the auto carpet cleaner. One thing I did before putting the seat back in was to tighten the hinge on the left side of the seat.
I removed the recline knob (pop out center cap and removed nut) then I removed the trim piece and tightened the two bolts on the hinge bracket and the one in the center if the recline knob.
I put it back together and reinstalled the seat, it made a big difference, the seat back doesn't wiggle as much now.
Next I worked on running the passenger rear speaker wire and started taping all the extra wires that run through the center console to the wire harness that run through there. the Stock speaker wire was just zip tied to the harnesses and the power antenna power wire and the antenna cable was just laying free under the center console so I taped that to the harness too.
I wanted to get my gas strut set ordered and I needed to figure if the a
ngel drive for the speedo was the cause of the speedometer not working so I took the driver wheel off and removed the angle drive and found that it was bad, the short cable going into it doesn't turn at all and the square hole in the wheel cap that drives it was all rounded out so Iâll need to get a new one of those too.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Yes, thats the only part that rolls down...
I fixed my passenger side window today, it actually was somewhat simple.
The problem was that it would not roll down. I figured that it was a problem in the switch, and it was. I could tell because when I would push up on the switch, obviously the widow wouldn't move because it was all the way up, but the interior lights would dim- telling me that power was going to the window motor (lights dimming because of the power draw). When the switch was pushed down nothing would happen (no dimming lights)- telling me that there was a problem with the switch specifically the down part of it. I removed the switch from the center console and moved the wires around and the window went down!
I removed the spade connector terminals from the bottom of the switch connector one at a time and bent them closed just a little bit. I did that to all three switches (Driver window, Rear Defrost, Passenger window) the switches were allot tighter when I plugged them back in.
I think I'll write up a "How-to" for DMCtalk.com...
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Simple fix, smelly mess...
Today I have a rough plan for something to work on:
-Check out why the blower motor makes so much noise.
-Fix the sound system so I can listen to music from more than one blown rear speaker.
My thoughts on the blower motor was that maybe there was a mouse nest in the fan cage or the bearings on the motor were bad. The motor was really easy to remove - six screws to lower the motor from the passenger kick panel. It was surprisingly clean. While *carefully* holding the motor, I turned the fan on low. It started vibrating pretty good! So I thought maybe the metal balance clip that are on the blades was missing. I looked inside the fan cage and saw the balance clip, but there was something else... I pulled a good sized little rock out of the blades. Turned the fan back on low, then high - it runs good now, smooth too! I reassembled it and turned it on. It runs quiet and blows much better without a rock in it! ;-)
Next on the list is the speakers, I decided that I would start with the front speakers as their removal doesn't require any other panel dis-assembly (from what I've read removing the back ones are a task) I removed one of the front speakers. Its a 3.5" round little thing, I'm not even sure if they make speakers that small anymore... Headed over to Soundtrack with the speaker and ask them if they have that size.
While I was running the wire for the rear speakers (don't have them yet, just going to run new wire.) I decided that I would clean up the wire mess in the center console. I shortened the power antenna wire, which was about 5 feet too long, and replaced the antenna cable with an new one (just the extension really, the cable coming off the power antenna only sticks out about 2 feet from the rear firewall) lucky for me I had a spare antenna extension cable laying around.
While I was working on the wiring in the rear fuse/harness access panels I found a shit load of mouse truds (pun intended) So I got out the shop vac and spent a good hour and a half cleaning that up. I put some traps in the back although I don't think there are any mice there any more, there’s nothing in there for them to eat.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Drive Your DeLorean to work Day
Drive Your DeLorean to work Day!
Drove the D to work today. Showed the guys, very cool.
It rained on it though, felt bad about that...
Took a break from working on the car today for Family Time.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Trip to fabric store.
I decide to sleep in today. We made a trip to the fabric store to pick up some headliner fabric and some grey vinyl to cover the gauge pod as it is the worst cracked part of the dash. The headliner material we found is a perfect match to the original grey. I bought 3 yards to replace both door headliners and the "T" piece in the middle.
My wife helped me scrape the old stickers off the windshield (parking pass and a DeLorean Owners association sticker that was cracked and faded, or I would have left it). We also started taking apart the dash. I got the Binnacle (gauge pod/hood) off and took out the gauges. I cut the vinyl to size and used 3M Super 77 adhesive to adhere the vinyl to it. It turned out ok, but I am not happy with it. There are folds at the front corners and the extra thickness would not allow the black trim ring that goes around the gauges to fit. I will have to do something about it... maybe find a new or used one to replace it with...
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Lots of work to be done.
Today I’m excited about having the whole day to work on the DMC. Woke up early. First thing I did was swap the gas struts on the doors. The driver side was weak and had a hard time holding the door open but the passenger door strut still had some strength to it. I was not expecting the doors to be so heavy. I mean, I knew they were heavy but I was surprised when I took the strut off and had the weight of the door on my back. I was worried that maybe the torsion bars were bad, but they held the door open the 4-5 inches that I read about on the forum.
Next, I pulled off the headliner piece from the driver door. The fabric was ripped off and the plastic trim clips were broke. I'll head to the fabric store later today.
Most of the trim snaps on the upper trim on the driver side door were broke so I made a trip to the auto parts store to pick up some new ones. FYI- the ones for the door trim are the "Ford" ones. I took the upper trim off and replaced all the retainer pegs. While I had the upper trim off, I noticed the window was off the track. I tried to get it back on track but was unable to. I thought I would have to remove one side of the track and that it would have to be done from the bottom of the door - nope. Do yourself a favor and don't remove the lower trim if you don't need to. I could not for the life of me figure out how to get it off. I had all the snaps out but something was holding it in. I found out it was the handle. You have to use a long Philips screw driver and remove one screw from each side of the handle. So I got the lower trim off and found out that there is no way to get to the window. So I start putting it back together and find out those handle screws come out a LOT easier then they go in! I tried for more than a half hour to get the screw started in the handle but I couldn't do it trying to hold the handle up and pull down on the edge of the trim and keep the screw in the hole and the screwdriver in the screw. Ugggh! Talk about frustration! So I finally put the handle on first and bent and flexed the trim around it, which isn't easy because there are two metal tabs on the handle that are supposed to hold the trim in
So I finally got the door back together then looked at the power window and decided I would tackle that later. The window goes up and down okay, not straight - but okay.
So the next thing I looked at was the tail lights. I noticed the night before that the driver side brake lights were not working. I bought some new bulbs while I was at the auto store. I was surprised to see that the tail lights are just held in with 6 screws - mine had 2 on one side and 4 one the other. I wonder how many people have had taillights go missing. I’m going to try to find some security screws, (hopefully stainless steel), to replace the mixed-matched set I have.
When I disassembled the tail lights I found that there weren't any burnt out bulbs. I did a continuity test between the light socket and the connector on the board - it was good. I plugged it into the connector and tested it from the socket to the connector - that was good. Then I thought, 'Oh man, there's a wire broken somewhere between the brake switch and the connector.' I thought of one more test to do. I took the other tail light off and did a continuity test between the brake light wire on both the driver and passenger side connectors - and that was good. So I knew that a dirty/faulty connection was to be blamed for the outage.
I took my scratch awl and *slightly* bent the connectors in the plug down, verifying what side actually touches the copper on the board - this should help put more pressure on the copper strip on the circuit board and make a better connection. I also took the awl and *lightly* scratched the surface of the copper on the circuit board to remove the oxidation. I re-installed the tail lights - something is still wrong with the passenger side reverse light. I'll look at that later too.
I washed the car and the wife and I took it out for a ride.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Got the Car!!
I called the bank first thing this morning and they told me I got the loan!! I got the lower interest rate!
So I head over to the bank to sign the paper, I have to wait a half hour because the bank opens at 9:00!
I head over to Wal-Mart to kill some time and I wanted to check out what they had for car covers. Find a semi-custom fit cover and was surprised to see DeLorean listed on the back, size 2, $19.95. Not a bad price, and since its only temp until I can get a fitted cover, it will work.
Head back to the bank and sign the papers - got the money!
I called the owner and let him know that I got the $$$ and asked if I could pick up the car that afternoon.
Took the wife and exchanged money for title. I felt bad because I could tell the guy really didn't want to sell the car.
Anyway it was unreal! This car, this DeLorean I'm driving is MY car! My dream car is a reality! Driving through Boulder was cool. All the college kids were gawking and telling everyone around them to look. People were driving by screaming, "Your car Rocks, Dude!" or "Alright, a DeLorean!" Most attention I have ever gotten. I think I'll be driving it through Boulder often :)
On the way home we stopped and got some dinner and I parked the D where I could see it through the window.
After dinner we cruised around the mall just getting attention - what fun.
Got home late and made a preliminary list of things that needed to be fixed:
1. Fix Speedometer
2. Fix Gas Gauge
3. Replace all gas struts (swap passenger door strut for driver door strut for the time being)
4. Fix Passenger power window
5. Replace driver door headliner
5. Clean interior
Thursday, September 13, 2007
First time seeing one in person.
This morning I decided that if I was going to get the DeLorean I better take my wife to see it and make sure she was ok with getting it.
First thing I did was call my Credit Union. After going through all the info that they needed I find out that they don't give loans for used cars older than 1999. What good is that to anybody!!
So I called my main bank, gave them all the info they needed - asked for a loan. I wanted to get a 6 year loan so my payments would be as low as possible. When the lady asked what year the car was I said 1981. She said they could only do a 3 year loan for that old of a car. I told her it was a collectors car and worth a lot more than the guy was asking for. She said she was going to put it through as a 6 year loan and see if it worked. I asked her when I would find out if I got the loan, she said I would know by tomorrow (Friday) morning.
I called my wife and told her I wanted her to take a look at it so she could see anything I overlooked. She said she wanted to and I found a sitter for our son (boy, 3 years old).
So we drove the 30-40 min drive to where the guy lived in Boulder. I hadn’t ever seen a DeLorean in person before but I recognized it from a distance! We pulled up to it and the owner came out. My first impression was "this car is in great shape!" The body panels are straight with no dents, the paint on the front fascia was flaking (big deal). Opened the door - doors open good but the gas shocks are bad, (easily replaced). First thing my wife says is "This is a really cool car!"
I sat in the car - there is some heat damage to the dash, bad cracks on the gauge hood (binnicle), passenger seat is tore up pretty bad, but the driver seat is in ok shape. He tells me we can take it for a drive. I’m excited but nervous, I haven't driven a clutch in a while. My wife gets in and she is excited about how cool the doors are and how neat the interior is.
I push in the clutch and turn the key, the engine started up right away. I make sure I’m in first and we head off down the road.
Talk about a fun car to drive! Both my wife and I are impressed with how smooth a 25+ year old car is going down the road. We notice the looks from cars driving by. I turn into a camp ground to turn around and everyone there turns and notices it. People pointing and smiling, this car gets a lot of attention.
On the way back my wife says, "We HAVE to get this car! Its sooo Cool! Are you going to get a loan?" I have to say I was shocked at her reaction, and extremely relieved that I wasn't going to have to choose between the car and a happy wife.
We get back, look over the car some more. I tell the guy I want to get it. I told him I would hear back tomorrow morning about the loan and that I might not have the money until Monday. I asked him if he could hold it for me and that I would call tomorrow morning and let him know if I got the loan. He said he would, and that he had got some offers on it - one from a guy in France who wanted to ship it back there, an offer from a guy in California, and one from a guy in Ohio - nothing local though. I told him thanks and I would keep in touch about the loan.
We drove back home talking about how unreal it was that we just drove a DeLorean! I started getting nervous about the loan, what if I didn't get it? I had to tell myself not to think like that! I would get the loan and it would work out!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
A search for the heck of it.
Today I did a random search on craigslist for DeLorean, just to see if anyone had one for sale in Colorado - there were two. The first one that caught my eye was titled "Delorean Must Sell" There weren’t any pictures on the posting so I didn't know what it looked like but from the short description it seemed to be in good shape. The date on the listing was Sep 8th, I thought,'There’s no way he still has this car if he’s selling it at that price' I called the number on the listing and left a message, I also sent him an email.
I thought I could properly get a loan for it. I didn't think that was going to be a problem. No, my problem was going to be convincing my wife that we had to buy this car.
Around 5:00, I get an email back from the guy and he says he still has it and I can come take a look at it. He attached some pictures to the email. I was just responding when I got a phone call from him. I asked him a few questions about the car and set up a time to take a look at it the following day. Up until this point I had not filled my wife in on my great find. I told her about it and she knew it was my dream car, but had the classic response "Do we REALLY need another car?" I’ve never understood people who have 12 cars, but in this case "YES" we do "NEED" this car. (This would only be our third car, by the way). I told her I was just going to go look at it the next day and how, if the car was in good shape, it was an incredible deal! I also informed her that if I were to get the loan and the car we could sell it at any point if the financial pressure got too great, and probably get a lot more for it!
So we both slept on it, though I could hardly sleep...
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Work done before me.
The previous owner gave me the maintenance receipts when I picked up the car.
I thought I would document the work done at Haglin Automotive here.
August 27 2007
Change Oil
Replace filter
August 6 2007
Issue: Belt Squeal
Replaced both belts
Checked Trailing arm bolts- OK
April 19 2007
Issue: Overheating gauge got to 240-260
Bleed Coolant system
Add Coolant
July 13 2005
Issue: Car Sitting with bad fuel
Replaced:
Fuel Pump
Fuel Pump Boot
Fuel Pump Cover
Fuel Pressure Regulator
Fuel Injectors (all 6)
Fuel Filter
Fuel Accumulator
Spark plugs (6)
Fuel Distributor
Replaced Brake Master Cylinder
