Daily DeLorean project (now with Jeep Wrangler "spared no expense")

[bezzabsa]

very Mondeo Mk1 looking front lights

[Justwatching]

Finally got the intake/exhaust gasket installed and put everything back together. Also got a new serpentine belt on. Oddly, none of the belts that are supposed to be for a Wrangler fit. I ended up buying something longer. I suspect the alternator bracket has been replaced with something non-standard.

Thankfully, idle has returned to normal 800 rpm and nothing seems to be leaking! 

Purchased a universal battery clamp. Turns out it's not entirely universal and required modification, but it fits now. 

Next, I wired up the front fog lights.

Having doors that lift out the way proved quite handy when routing wires at awkward angles under the dash.

[mercedade]

Really, really enjoy this car. Want a toy like this.

[Justwatching]

Changed the brake calliper slide pin boots on the Jeep as they'd turned hard and started to split.

Changed the tyres for similar reasons.

The Jeep came with a spare set of wheels when I bought it - steel rims with a mis-matched set of tyres (BF Goodrich on the rear + spare, Goodyears on the front). They're 14.2% less perished, so I'll use them for now. They do bring down the appearance a bit though. 

[Asimo]

I really like those Jeep steel wheels.
Jeep aluminium wheels really do look a bit rubbish!
If it was mine I would bin the centre caps and get a set of (winter) van-rated tyres fitted.

Less is more.

[Justwatching]

Tinkering update on the Jeep: put some flexible conduit on the fog light wires to tidy appearances and hopefully give the join some protection. 

I've also installed wiring for a second fog lamp on the rear. The body is pre-drilled for two fogs, but only one was supplied (minimum UK compliance, I guess). The wiring loom passes right behind the mounting area, so it's a pretty easy job. 

Had a bracket made too, which I marked up and drilled this morning. Just waiting for the paint to dry. 

Also had a lightbar fabricated. It needs some prep work, especially where the tube has been joined and ground down in the middle. I also need to get a CB antenna tie-down sorted for it.

Finally, replaced the jacking kit as the ratchet for the original was broken. It's generic/universal one, but the whole kit was half the price of getting a second-hand OEM ratchet. 

[Justwatching]

Gave the lightbar a quick coat of primer to stop rust forming. Test fit went well. More prep work before top coat though. 

Also got the rear fog lights finished on the Jeep. 

 

Next, I turned my attention to the Mustang's broken odometer. 

The electric motor that drives the odometer had a worm gear with broken teeth. The plastic disintegrated as soon as I put any pressure on it and came off the shaft in pieces. 

Got a replacement gear set from the US. Used a bench vice to push fit the worm gear onto the motor shaft. The next gear is mounted in the plastic assembly that houses the odometer and just snapps into place.

A bit steep at £45, but at least the parts are available. 

Success! It moves!

 

 

[Justwatching]

I massively treated myself this Christmas and bought these:

I've wanted them for ages but something else always needed the money first. I spent the money quick this time before anything else had a chance!

Access is excellent - much better than I've ever achieved with a trolley jack and axel stands. 

Right, so first job was replacing front shocks on the Mustang. 

It's relatively simple - There's two large bolts securing the lower knuckle of the shock absorber to the wheel hub. Painted an alignment mark and removed a bracket for an ABS sensor (I think).

The top nuts proved to be the hardest part. A blow torch and impact wrench got the job done after wasting some time with a screw driver, ring spanner and penetrating fluid. 

Turned the impact wrench on the lower two nuts and out it comes! 

I know a McPherson assembly would be more space efficient, but I really do prefer having the shock and spring separate for ease of maintenance. 

Transferred some hardware from the old shocks and put the new ones in.

I've got some prop-shaft joints to go in the Mustang next but decided to leave it there for today. 

I've been thinking about selling the Mustang tbh; it doesn't have an obvious purpose in my fleet. If you're interested, say so. 

In other news, the Jeep is now on the road. I still don't like it on those steels, but don't have funds to refurbish the alloys and get a new set of BFG All-Terrain's (which are painfully expensive - just over a grand for five of them fitted). 

Pez shot.

 

 

 

[Surface Rust]

Those ramps look interesting, not seen that type before. What is the maximum lift and where did you get them from? 

Jeep looks great!

[Justwatching]

On 06/01/2024 at 19:24, Surface Rust said:

Those ramps look interesting, not seen that type before. What is the maximum lift and where did you get them from? 

Jeep looks great!

Link below. Manufacturer says 473mm lift height. Next time it's raised I'll put a tape measure against it and see. It was enough room for me to go under the Mustang on a creeper, lower the prop shaft onto myself and scoot back out. You can buy height adapters if you want a bit more lift, but I don't think they're necessary. Plus I'm working in single storey ceiling height and don't want to crush anything.

The pros I see in this lift are that it runs on household single phase electric, you don't need an air compressor, it can lift anything I own (or likely to own in future)  and leaves completely clear access down the full length of the vehicle unlike other mid-rise scissor lifts. They also don't take up much space storage wise. About the only con I've found is the weight. They're marketed as being portable - like fuck! You'd do yourself an injury trying lift them into the back of car/van. Luckily I didn't buy them with that intention. 

E4G Kwik Lift Range (garageequipment.co.uk)

[rattlecan]

Hi Justwatching, I had a Delorean for 16 yrs, sold it in 2020, however I’m still quite involved in the community & whilst owning mine I literally had it in more bits than Delorean did when they built it. Full body off chassis resto etc etc. so whilst I’m sure you’re ok with it all, if you need any info give me a shout 

cheers 

[rattlecan]

A few pics for your perusal 

one in the ‘chunnel’ on way to France

a few at a uk meet

original test track in Dunmurry for a meet

a few outside Stormont

& a few on the Titanic slipway

[Justwatching]

Got the prop shaft out of the Mustang on Sunday to replace the universal joints. It had developed what feels like a driveline vibration during acceleration, mostly between 30-45 MPH. Quite speculative as I didn't actually confirm the fault before ordering parts, but they weren't expensive so I just added them to the order for the front shocks. 

Unfortunately, everything put up a fight, so this took me most of the afternoon. I'll continue to sing the praises of my new lift though. It made removing the prop and getting it back in a relatively comfortable experience. 

Got the new joints in and put the shaft back in the Mustang. 

I tried to top off the rear diff which didn't go well. My pump wouldn't pick up the oil properly - the vacuum kept collapsing the hose and pinching itself off. I know it's thick oil (80w90), but I didn't expect that. Then I knocked the oil over and made a mess. Decided to call it a day as my patience had run out. 

In other news, I was given a key replicator a few months back.

I made a spare key for the Mustang easy enough but my first attempt at a DeLorean key didn't turn out great. It worked, but only if you jiggled it.

My second attempt is much better and works perfect. It's worry off my mind to have a second key. 

 

 

[Justwatching]

Got a new pump bottle so I could top off the Mustang's diff. The pick-up tube is metal on this one, so can't collapse. Even put some cardboard down - I'm learning!

Adjusted some play out of the steering box on the Jeep and greased up the joints. 

I'm rarely able to unlock the passenger door from outside, so took off the interior panel to investigate. 

The threaded rods can be adjusted by moving them in/out. This helped make the lock/unlock action feel more positive, like it was actually using the full extent of its travel, but still didn't make it completely reliable. The issue seemed to be play in the fixed rod between the key tumbler and lock mechanism. I used a bit of electrical tape around the end of rod to make it a snug fit in the plastic bushing. Problem solved! I can now unlock the door passenger door first attempt. 

[Justwatching]

A little while back, I sorted a vacuum leak on the Jeep and announced the high idle issue was solved. Well, it started idling high again. Despite two sessions of generously spraying carb cleaner around with the engine running, I couldn't find any new vacuum leaks. 

My next suspect was the Idle Air Control (IAC) Valve. 

I took it out and cleaned it up, but it wasn't that dirty tbh.

Cleaned up the throttle body, but again, didn't really need it. 

The chamber the IAC valve sits in was pretty grim though. Used cotton buds and got the worst of it out. 

So, did that cure it? No. Then yes. Then no again. Overall, that's a no. 

I've run it with a without the IAC valve connected and it doesn't seem to make a difference, so I think it's dead? 

[bezzabsa]

RE speedo drive thingy, don't you have friends with a 3d printer??

[Justwatching]

When I had the DeLorean transmission rebuilt last year, one of the many bodges done by the Automatic Transmission Company (Derbyshire) was cutting the transmission cooler lines in half and then joining them back up with what looks like a garden hose connector. 

It doesn't drip on the ground, but the line is clearly wet with ATF below the join. The other one is the same but in a less accessible location between the top part of the transmission casing and the rear Y section of chassis. You can get your fingers on it, but not much else. This is why I've put off fixing it, but I'm nervous it will let go one day, leave me stranded, and possibly destroy the transmission. 

The ends are steel tubes which run through the middle of a fastening nuts. The nut is supposed to turn independently of the tube, but as you might guess, they're frozen solid. I started with the most difficult connection, and after two weekends of applying penetrating fluid, heat, and cutting up various spanners to fit the working space, I got it off. The line ended up wrapping around itself several times before snapping.

In fairness to the Automatic Transmission Company, that was one of the most unreasonably stuck nuts I've ever encountered. It's clear to me now the lines were never coming out in one piece. Thing is, they had the transmission out after cutting the lines and could have replaced them easily. Instead, they bodged them back together, so I had to spend hours working with limited options in a confined space.  

Anyway, things were comparatively easy after the first one. The second line that goes into the transmission had just enough clearance to get an angle grinder in there, cut the line off, and use a socket on the nut. I decided to drop the coolant and remove the pipe that the other two ends were connected to. 

Bench vice + blowtorch + impact gun = easy removal. 

I've already got the replacement lines, but there are washers I wasn't ware of, so can't install just yet. I'm also going to start replacing rubber sections of the cooling system. No original hoses that come out are going back in.

[Justwatching]

New transmission cooler lines installed. Filled the transmission with ATF. No apparent leaks overnight, but I haven't started it up yet as there's more work to do on the engine while the coolant is drained. Also replaced four rubber sections of cooling hose with silicon. Never used silicon hoses before but first impressions are good; they're very pliable and easy to install. 

Also noticed the driver side CV boot has split. No surprise; it's original to the car and the passenger side failed last year. 

I've removed the CV joint from the axle, taken it apart and cleaned off the old grease with petrol. Unfortunately, there's slight play between the axle shaft splines and CV joint. I was hoping for wear in bearing part of the CV joint as that can be replaced easily.

It's not too bad, so I'll reassemble with fresh grease and a new boot for now.

[mat_the_cat]

On 09/01/2024 at 20:42, Justwatching said:

I tried to top off the rear diff which didn't go well. My pump wouldn't pick up the oil properly - the vacuum kept collapsing the hose and pinching itself off. I know it's thick oil (80w90), but I didn't expect that. Then I knocked the oil over and made a mess. Decided to call it a day as my patience had run out. 

Especially in this weather I tend to stick gearbox oil in front of a heater for 10 minutes or so, makes pouring it so much easier.

[Justwatching]

Just before Christmas, I noticed a small coolant leak. Unfortunately, I traced it back to the valley of the engine which means open heart surgery for the DeLorean. Leaks in the valley cause block rot, and if left unaddressed, will perforate one of oil passages and destroy the engine. 

I got started today and had all this lot out in a few hours. Not as bad as I thought.

That left me with this mess.  I've labelled up a lot of the lines and put bolts back where they came from. Hopefully this will give me a fighting chance of getting it all back together.

First impressions, not too bad. Lots of debris in the valley, but it's not a swamp. 

Localised leaking near the water pump. Looks to be coming from the smaller of the two hoses. 

Final step of disassembly was to remove the metal Y pipe, and that's where it all went tits. 

Got the two driver side bolts out, but both passenger side bolts snapped after many attempts at working it back and forth. To make it worse, I still can't get the Y pipe out. I've tried hammering, penetrating fluid, blowtorch, and levering on it with a crowbar. 

I've given up for the day. 

Fuckin' thing.

[Justwatching]

I partially drilled out the bolt remains, but did it in gradual steps with lots of penetrating fluid, hammering, and levering in between. Eventually the Y pipe let go and left me a promising amount of stub. 

The longer stub came out with vice grips.

The shorter stub broke and became even shorter. 

I decided to leave it for the time being as I wanted to stay in a good mood. 

Next, I cleaned the spilled coolant and muck out of the valley. As per initial impression, looks alright. 

To end on a high note, I rebuilt the drive shaft and re-installed with upgraded hardware, same I did last year on the passenger side. 

[Dyslexic Viking]

I've had pretty good luck welding a nut onto broken bolts.

Is this something to try?

[Justwatching]

4 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I've had pretty good luck welding a nut onto broken bolts.

Is this something to try?

It would, but I don't have a welder. Really need to get one. Buying one always seems a low priority, but then I need it and it's too late. 

[Surface Rust]

It'll be worth it in the end.

Many years ago I rescued a friend who had a Volvo 760 with the PRV V6.  The big valley hose highlighted in the pic had blown spectacularly and dumped all the coolant out almost instantly. Fortunately he stopped when he saw the steam, I imagine it might go unnoticed in a Delorean!

I remember it being a right pain to find a hose of the right diameter, and having to rifle through the boxes 'out back' in my local parts emporium. Those were the days!

Looking forward to seeing it back in action.

[petermchugh79]

Off top question what size are the timbers in your carport, and what kinda span did you go for between the joists?

Sent from my 21061119DG using Tapatalk

[Justwatching]

On 10/02/2024 at 21:41, petermchugh79 said:

Off top question what size are the timbers in your carport, and what kinda span did you go for between the joists?

Sent from my 21061119DG using Tapatalk
 

Here's what I bought.

Wooden Box Pergola Kit - Exclusive Garden Pergola Range - Largest on eBay | eBay

The carport is 4.8 meters wide, but the longest sheet of corrugated PVC I could get at my local builders merchant was 3.6 meters. The joists (four IIRC) are equidistant across the 3.6 meter span in the centre. I was planning to reduce to two cars (one in the garage, one under the carport) but that clearly isn't happening. I'll re-do the roof as some point to make full use of the 4.8 meter span. 

[rattlecan]

I feel your pain, had the same issue with mine, not a nice job in that ‘valley of death’. 
As you’ve mentioned the block rot is a real thing. When I did mine I spent age’s cleaning all those deep rectangular holes out down the centre of the block. They fill up with shit which goes rock hard. They are actually about 6 inch (or maybe more) deep, so I used a screwdriver & a thin pipe taped to the hoover hose to scrape them clean & suck the crud out. I then painted the lot & put loads down those holes so they are fully protected 

[Justwatching]

The DeLorean's situation keeps getting worse every time I touch it. A summary of disasters since my last post:

-purchased bolt extractor set but it slipped not matter how tight I clamped it down in the drill chuck; 

-purchased second set of bolt extractors, this time with hex-heads. Well it didn't slip! It just fucking broke off inside the stud! Deep joy;

-welded a bolt to the stud. Snapped. Welded it again. Snapped again;

-resigned to the fact that it's not coming out intact and started drilling all of it out. Progress is painfully slow, I assume because of the hardened extractor.

In other news, I replaced the Jeep's Idle Air Control valve which achieved nothing. I don't like playing parts darts, so decided to investigate before replacing anything else.

I still suspected a vacuum leak as the high idle started after I changed the intake manifold gasket. I sprayed carb cleaner around with the engine running but it didn't produced any change in idle. Things is, spraying around at random is great if you happen to find the leak, but it's inconclusive if you don't as you can't rule out a leak somewhere else. I decided to get a smoke machine to test properly. To be honest, I kind of wish I had got one sooner as it would have come in handy many times over the years. 

No leak from the intake manifold, so at least my repair work was sound. Only found one small leak coming from the intake butterfly valve shaft. There's nothing I can do about it other than replace the whole throttle body. I don't think it's bad enough to justify that. 

Moved on to sensor testing after that. Throttle position sensor and MAP sensor checked out, but the coolant temp sensor and intake air temp sensor where out of spec. Replaced both - no more racing idle!

The idle still hangs a bit, but at least it does come down to a sensible speed now. 

[Justwatching]

Many hours later...

I got everything reassembled this weekend and even had it running briefly. 

I reused the copper washers on the fuel lines, which paid the expected dividend. 

I had enough spare washers to replace all but two. Not wanting to halt progress, I chose a couple of the best looking used washers and annealed them with a blow torch.

Everything sealed up second time around, so I started the engine back up and continued looking for coolant leaks. What I found was an ATF leak - it's those bloody transmission cooler lines I replaced. I couldn't see anything wrong with how I installed them and they were done up plenty tight. Did a bit of research, and it looks like the new lines need copper washers to seal. The original lines didn't have washer, so it didn't cross my mind when ordering. 

Got on with some other jobs while I wait for parts - adjusted the handbrake and removed the headlight switch. The switch has two positions - press it once for sidelights and twice for driving lights - but sometimes it doesn't stay in position and pops back out as soon as I remove my finger. 

Took the switch apart and cleaned it up with alcohol. I think the metal paw was sticking and not falling into the position detent. 

Reassembled the switch and put it back in the car. Seemed to work fine but the problem is intermittent, so I'll need to use it for a while to be sure. Hopefully that's £60 saved. 

 

 

[Scruffy Bodger]

You did very well indeed to get that out so intact! I often have to deal with snapped studs on log burners so have finally ordered some left hand drill bits to try, fingers crossed they work in some situations. Is that a helicoil?

What's your go to plan of attack?