Looking at De Lorean

[Basunfan]

Hallo guys, i wanted a DeLorean for a long time and Think its about time.
The DeLorean is very rare special here in Denmark, but ive found one that im going to look at in next week, and i really hope its a nice one, but looks okay from the pictures.
Its a 1981 with gasflap, manuel trans, black leather, no kat, and speedometer in km/h (22xxx km)
The AC is not working, but i dont care that much.
Its an "early'" one, vin 1369
haven't seen it in Real life yet.

What i Can see from pictures alle the stainless looks good, the weather striping around the doors (not sure thats the Real english words for that) looks Like it could use New ones, is that a problem?
Seats looks dry, but not broken..

The big questern is
Are there anything special that i should look out for?
Beside ofcourse rust under the car.

Thanks, and sorry my english, hope you understand anyway :-)

It cost aprox 16.000£ but please renamber that we have high VAT/tax in denmark, some of the tax is allready payed on the car, and i have to pay atleest 6.000£ ekstra in vat/tax for number plades.

[Domi]

Welcome to the forum :wink:
Don't forget to take a look into the fuse compartment.

[Guinney1971]

from my own experience with my car, check the condition of the cooling system
if you can, and if possible factor in a refurbished radiator. My car has always been
prone to over heating and doesnt like getting hot, I've had new cylinder heads, water
pump, thermostat, radiator, etc.

Obviously check the chassis, and as Dominique says, check the fusebox area.

Things like rubber seals round the doors are available here in the UK, so if you struggle
to find parts you need in Europe, then always ask on here and we'll be able to help.

Good luck with your purchase, and be sure to put plenty of photos on here when you
get your car and start 'living the dream'

[Basunfan]

Thank you very much for the replyes, and welcome stuff :-)
Ill take a good look at these places that you mentioned.
As you can see on the pictures, the top door interior also needs to be changet.
And the seats looks dry.
But haven't seen it in real life yet, but looking very much forward, hope this to be my first Delorean and have it for many years, with a minium of problems :-)

[Domi]

Basunfan Wrote:Thank you very much for the replyes, and welcome stuff :-)
As you can see on the pictures, the top door interior also needs to be changet.

It's just the headliners, you can replace it very easily.

[Guinney1971]

your door seal has gone in the same place mine has, mines been like that in all
the 9yrs I've had my car, I'll get around to it

Black leather seat covers can be hard to find, and also expensive, but if you
treat them with a good quality leather feed then they should become nice and
soft again and last a few more years.

Overall, looks a nice car, which just needs a few cosmetics doing, but I've seen
alot worse.

Good luck with it, and I hope you get to buy your dream car soon

[Dan Willis]

It looks like it's been sat for a while, so assume the following:

1. It may need "gentle" recommissioning.
2. That means, fluids, anything important made of rubber (pipes/tyres) may all need replacing, or could be suspect.
3. Do you have pictures of the frame? No one takes those when selling them and it's the one thing that isn't "cosmetic" if it's in need of TLC.
4. Don't assume you can drive it home.

These wonderful cars are all now 30 years old; treat them as such and you'll be fine.

Those seats could do with some baby oil (I used it once and it made a really nice difference!).

Good luck and get it bought!

[Basunfan]

I was flying out to see the car this week, but then here was too much fog and we could not land
But i got some more pictures today, how does it looks? I personal think it looks pretty good.

[Domi]

Not bad, but I think you would have to change the fusebox to a new one.
It is an easy operation, about a working day.

[Guinney1971]

that looks a quite good car, the chassis is in much better condition
then mine, but I agree with Domi, change the fusebox just to be on
the safe side. Dont buy an expensive one from the US, get one from
somewhere like Vehicle Wiring Products over here - if they wont ship
abroad, get them to post it to me and I'll post it on to you. I can always
go and pick one up for you, the company is a couple of miles from where
I live.

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/V ... lders1.php

Possibly looks like the seats and steering wheel could do with some leather
treatment, but thats not the end of the world, and possibly that black sill
wants fitting properly.

A weekends work for you at the most I would have thought there, plus I think
you'll need to change the tyres.

So, with purchase price and taxes, how much is it going to cost you? I would
have thought, going by recent sale prices, that a car in that condition in the UK
would sell for about £15,000, which is about €17,250 - but we dont have extra
purchase taxes on that, just things like road tax, which is £215 a year.

I've worked out the sale price of this car is just under £14,000, so not a bad price
but you do have to factor in the extra taxes you will have to pay.

Good luck with the purchase, and let us know how you get on.

[Basunfan]

Finally i got to see it to day, been a long x-mas

It looks even better IRL then on pictures i think.

BUT the passage side window dont work, he told it does sometimes ? Switch? motor?

"weather stripings" (hope they are called ;-) at the "roof" between doors and roof, also need to be new. Hard?

worst part, driver door dont fit very vell, and looked kinda bend, or hmm not sure, but its possible to see on the picture where the door is closed!

besides that it looked very good i think.

Need to hear your opinions before i decide, but im close i think :-)


price is 16.000 GBP

[Dan Willis]

It still looks like a good car - though I'm not sure I'd pay £16k for it. Maybe just me, but if you think there is work to be done on the door.. and it's not clear what, it could run the car up several thousand £ more.

Mind you, nearly every De Lorean used to be a £20k car once "finished". Not sure that still holds water...

[Rissy]

...Unless I'm completely mistaken by the pictures here, I'm thinking the door isn't necessarily bent or twisted. It could be the windscreen trim just needing an adjusting to match the contour of the door edge. This can take some playing around with.

Saying this though, I DO know that, probably due to leaving the doors open for long periods of time, that the upper framework of the door, giving shape to the roof part of the door, slowly bends, almost as if stressed with gravity to start sagging downwards after the point where the strut is holding it up, and I know that some people have corrected this, to straighten the "door roof" with long straight sections of wood, and clamps. I'm not sure of the overall results of this manoeuvre though....?

[Basunfan]

Thank you guys. I forgot to say that you have to slam the driver door prity hard for it to close.

Other Then that i Think it looked amazing :-)

Ill try to get some pictures of the roof, i have still not bought it,
But ill very much love to, but dont want a Delorean with too much of the "hard" work.

[Basunfan]

@ Dan, it really looks better in real life, and we have crazy tax in denmark, some of it have been payed, but i have to pay at least 5000-6000 GBP extra for number plates is crazy!!!!


@ Rissy : I think you right about the windscreen trim, just got some more pictures. ??