VIN #5124

[Doive]

Collected our new car over the weekend, a lifelong dream established for a wee lad from Northern Ireland.



First impressions - what an unusual car to drive. Not what I was expecting at all. Quite heavy, cumbersome in places, hardly a sports car!

The neighbours were impressed though. John is 84, and came close to buying one of these back in 1981, but had never actually sat in one.




A couple of quick questions, don't seem worthy of their own threads...

1) There is a hissing or whooshing from behind the dash, that changes with engine vacuum. Is this part of the ventilation system?
2) The gear change is quite cumbersome. Gears can be found, but I wouldn't say it's smooth.
3) The engine has a misfire, we have new leads to be fitted, but do the injectors give trouble as well?
4) The water pump has a weep, as these easy to replace?
5) The sump gasket seems to have hardened, again, easy to replace?

Looking forward to getting it sorted out. The car comes with a huge history file, and less than 10k miles on the clock. Hopefully it will prove an interesting and enjoyable project.

[jwrayth]

Doive Wrote:1) There is a hissing or whooshing from behind the dash, that changes with engine vacuum. Is this part of the ventilation system?

What's your mode switch set to? There should be some wooshing when you change modes, but sounds like you may have a vacuum leak.

Doive Wrote:2) The gear change is quite cumbersome. Gears can be found, but I wouldn't say it's smooth.

A good reference for replacing all the bushings and re-greasing the shift mechanism, provided that is the culprit;
http://delorean2109.blogspot.co.uk/2013/...d-car.html

Having just done this myself this summer, I can say it made shifting much smoother on my car

Doive Wrote:4) The water pump has a weep, as these easy to replace?

I'm surprised about this. The water pump was leaking when I saw the car in the summer, and I gave Robert all the details for sourcing a replacement. Would have expected him to pass the details on, or have fixed it in the ample time he had before selling on. Sourcing a replacement isn't difficult, there are a few threads on here to read up on it such as http://www.deloreans.co.uk/forum/viewtop...77&start=0

This is my last month of having the DeLorean on the road for this year, so if you want to meet up for a wee chat one weekend let me know!

[Doive]

Donna decided to take the Delorean to work this morning, it's a running joke with the gate security that they never know what she's going to turn up in - well this morning will definitely be a surprise! Is there a more stylish commute?

[Chris Williams]

I think you have most of your answers! The hissing usually is from the mode switch as suggested but you 'should' only hear it when your changing the direction of the air flow. if it's there all the time it may be a pipe has come off?
Seems your on top of the water pump thing but Dave Howarth can also get your original refurbished if your in no rush.
Glad to see you have the car mind 8)
Another thing to look at re-gear lever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng6-l2fh ... tkxR6bOJ-w
Chris

[Guinney1971]

weird lights on the front fascia near the indicators, I'd get shot of those if it was my car, and also
do the fog light mod to the rear tail light boards to get rid of the accessory rear fog light bolted to
the rear fascia.

Congrats on the purchase, you're one of a growing band of DMC owners north of Hadrians Wall now

[Doive]

Thanks for the replies and info folks

Claire - yes I agree the sidelights aren't very pretty. Thankfully we have waiting a set of Halo lights from Martin, which will improve things greatly. I just hope the adhesive on the sidelights hasn't marked the bumper moulding.

I think over the winter I have a list of jobs I want to do, which should improve all the little problems we have found so far. The previous owner but one has disconnected the interior lights to allow the doors to remain open at shows, and also disconnected the passenger side window as it was never used... hopefully it's not actually knackered.

I want to invest in some of Dave McKeen's fantastic replacement relays.

Central locking is inoperative.
Both windows need attention.
Aircon needs regassed.
Water pump needs refurbishing.
Gear linkage needs looking at.
Ignition leads need replaced.
Injectors need ultrasonic cleaning.
Headlights want replacing.
Foglight needs integrated into rear clusters.
Heated rear window switch is knackered.
Radio has no reception.
Vee belts want replacing.
Door and bonnet struts are tired.
Sump gasket is weeping.

But apart from that little list - she's a sound old girl...!

[Rissy]

Doive Wrote:Radio has no reception.

Good luck fixing THAT one. Lol

(Or is that just me with my integral aerial? - I'll just get my coat) :lol:

[jwrayth]

Rissy Wrote:

Doive Wrote:Radio has no reception.

Good luck fixing THAT one. Lol

(Or is that just me with my integral aerial? - I'll just get my coat) :lol:

I'm going to fix my radio reception once and for all this winter

Doive Wrote:Central locking is inoperative.

The Door Lock module was unplugged last time I saw your car, so likely it's that It was an original unit so has a large drain on the battery whilst doing nothing, so I'd either modify it or replace it with the shiny new one Houston offers!

[Guinney1971]

sounds like a Scottish Tech Sesh is on the cards !!

[Doive]

Guinney1971 Wrote:sounds like a Scottish Tech Sesh is on the cards !!

Ooo now that sounds good.

Will be interesting to see all the mods others have done to bring their cars up to date. Re the radio, ours already has a rear mounted electric aerial, so perhaps the cable from this has come adrift somewhere, or it has a bad earth.

Took it out there in the dark to do the weekly shop - surprisingly practical the front boot took all the shopping with ease. Lots of interest in the local Morrisons car park, not a regularly seen vehicle in this part of Fife...

[Chris Hawes]

The defroster switch has a very nice action once put back together properly. Suspect someone went to pull it out and pulled the top off which meant the guts fell out.

This might help:-
http://lukesandel.com/auto/delorean/inf ... Switch.pdf

[Chris P]

Yes I think most of us agree that the switch-gear is not of the finest quality….. It needs handling with great care! Blame Barrie Wills and the rest of his purchasing team! :wink:

[stunned_monkey]

I get a bit of a tick every time I see comments about how the DeLorean isn't nice to drive :wink:

They ARE very nice, when they're working properly

If you do get a chance to meet up with Rissy, and if he'll let you, take his for a spin. Lex was always a joy to drive and kinda set my "gold standard" when judging all others - although the steering used to be a bit loose (Chris has replaced the rack since), it always tracked beautfully, had great brakes and was a very comfy, quiet, long-legged, torquey, surefooted GT. The gears should be slick. Check out my YouTube offering talking about adjusting the crossgate cable. Also, change the gear oil. many cars out thre are running original oil.

Chris, the radio reception was fine when I had it... all the talk about the windscreen antenna is bollocks, the problem was with the crap original stereo.

The mode switch probably needs greasing. A bit of silicone grease is all they usually need to get them working like new. I use this stuff http://uk.farnell.com/contralube/contra ... dp/1774260 which isn't what it's sold for but it is just a thick silicone grease. It's also good for keeping connectors clean and corrosion free

Is the sump gasket leaking? If not, it it ain't broke...
If it apprently is, check it isn't coming from the oil pressure switch, left hand side in front of the AC belt tensioner - a very common leak source. The sump gasket almost never leaks and trust me, you don't want to try changing it unless you have to. Not because the sump is difficult to remove but because you'll be there for an age trying to clean the old gasket off the crank case...

[Rissy]

stunned_monkey Wrote:If you do get a chance to meet up with Rissy, and if he'll let you, take his for a spin.

Of course, I'm sure we'll get a chance to meet one day. To cure your confusion, although I live in Rugby, my car lives in Edinburgh, so during the summer time when I come up, the car normally gets out around Edinburgh from time to time.

stunned_monkey Wrote:Chris, the radio reception was fine when I had it... all the talk about the windscreen antenna is bollocks, the problem was with the crap original stereo.

The best radio reception I get is in Scotland. Down in England most of the time, I'm listening to static.

Right now, I'm blaming the fact the aerial has come disconnected at the antenna stud on the windscreen. I've tried cleaning up the stud and the clip and tried reconnecting the two, but the cable comes up a little short. Tried pulling it through a bit more, gently, but I think the whole length needs freeing up somewhere. Also, it seems that the clip is a bit tight for the stud, so although it pulls a bit in position, I feel that if I were able to push it on, it would stay, but I've tried pushing quite a lot (as much you can do with your thumb right in the corner of the glass) but my next fear is cracking the windscreen trying to get the thing to click into place. I've left it as a result. Got me an integral iPod connection now, so that makes up for it a bit.

As for your other comments Martin: it's so nice to have someone say some nice stuff about my car. Usually I just get "wonky" talk or "monkey" references. lol! I don't know whether to blush or take a bow. Lol :lol:

[Doive]

stunned_monkey Wrote:I get a bit of a tick every time I see comments about how the DeLorean isn't nice to drive :wink:

They ARE very nice, when they're working properly

I think ours is in good shape generally, just a few little niggles to iron out. The more I drive it, the more I like it even able to find all the gears first time now. I think my initial misgivings were from the point of view of a Saab 99 and 900 driver - high seating, excellent visibility, very easy to drive and position on the road.

Took the old girl out in the rain last night, that was an experience! Felt sure footed in the wet, but the front screen blower seems lacking in puff - maybe related to the vacuum leak from behind the panel.

Trying to fix the door light switches now, they seem something of a mystery. All door lights work, but the switches have been taken apart - the little right angled connectors are sitting in the disconnected wires, so need to figure out how they go back together. Rear demister switch has been broken in the past, and is missing it's central roll pin.