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

[Justwatching]

2 hours ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

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?

Yeah, it's a helicoil. 

Didn't have a plan - this is the first time I've had a stud snap off flush. Tried extractors and welding first as they were the least invasive options and would leave the threads intact.

The extractor snapping off inside the stud made the situation 10x worse, so I'll be reluctant to use them again. I found dremel grinding stones got through the hardened extractor faster than drill bits, but they were sacrificial - think I went through about four.

Following a pilot hole made my drilling more stable/consistent. I also attached the Y pipe and used it as a guide so I could see if I was going off centre more easily. 

[Justwatching]

Got the transmission leak(s) sorted and attempted to bleed air out of the cooling system. DeLorean had other ideas - it threw the coolant out and kept the air instead. This happened several times, even with the rear end raised. I got it to a point that was good enough for a short test drive, which went fine. 

Removed the bonnet and re-laid the seal next. It had started to detach in places and my previous attempt at squeezing a bit of contact adhesive in the gap hadn't been successful. Also did the passenger side outer door seal again as I was unhappy with last year's attempt. 

Got the bonnet back on and adjusted for panel gap. Had a look underneath - puddle of coolant. FFS...

[Justwatching]

Thought I'd try to find the source of the coolant leak during my lunch break today. I'm shitting myself that it might be in the engine valley and require me to take everything apart again. 

Its hard to see, but there's a blue droplet of coolant hanging from a joint in one of the main coolant pipes under the car. 

I've nipped up the clamp. I'll be laughing if that's all it is. 

In other news, the lightbar got a couple coats of red paint. One more I reckon, then lacquer. Also installed a CB antenna mount on the Jeep last weekend. 

[Justwatching]

Good news - that coolant leak on the DeLorean turned out to be the hose I pictured. The garage floor has been dry since!

Bad news - the Jeep got jealous and decided to have a coolant leak of its own. Worse still, it was coming from the radiator, so not a cheap fix. 

I could have got a cheap rad with plastic tanks for about £70, but I've had bad experience with those in the past. Decided to go all-aluminium instead (£160). It claims 30% better cooling than the stock rad. 

The rear track bar has been knocking the entire time I've owned the Jeep. According to the internet, I don't need it. So, while the coolant drained, I got the track bar out and binned it. I've been for a drive since and didn't notice any difference (other than the rear end being quiet!). 

I didn't want to waste the coolant as it's barely six months old, so put it through a fuel filter like I did last time. Works very well - the coolant looks new after being filtered. 

Right, back to this radiator. It was supposed to be direct fit. It wasn't.

One of brackets fouled a power steering hard line, so I had to shave the bracket with a grinder. The fan cowling is now held on with zip-ties because none of the bolt holes line up. Ditto the power steering reservoir bottle as the mount faces a different direction. Not impressed. 

Poured the coolant back in and bled the system. Thankfully, no leaks. 

Got the light bar finished and mounted it this morning. 

And here with the CB antenna. 

[rattlecan]

On 17/03/2024 at 22:06, Justwatching said:

Got the transmission leak(s) sorted and attempted to bleed air out of the cooling system. DeLorean had other ideas - it threw the coolant out and kept the air instead. This happened several times, even with the rear end raised. I got it to a point that was good enough for a short test drive, which went fine. 

Removed the bonnet and re-laid the seal next. It had started to detach in places and my previous attempt at squeezing a bit of contact adhesive in the gap hadn't been successful. Also did the passenger side outer door seal again as I was unhappy with last year's attempt. 

Got the bonnet back on and adjusted for panel gap. Had a look underneath - puddle of coolant. FFS...

Have you got one of the ‘auto-bleed’ hoses back to the header tank? Well worth fitting one, they are bastards at best to bleed

[Justwatching]

35 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

Have you got one of the ‘auto-bleed’ hoses back to the header tank? Well worth fitting one, they are bastards at best to bleed

What, one of these?

Front Radiator Bleeder Kit - DeLorean Parts (deloreango.com)

or this, maybe?

Engine Self Bleeder Kit (rubber) - DeLorean Parts (deloreango.com)

I considered it, but figured it must be possible to bleed the cooling system how it came from the factory.

[rattlecan]

1 hour ago, Justwatching said:

What, one of these?

Front Radiator Bleeder Kit - DeLorean Parts (deloreango.com)

or this, maybe?

Engine Self Bleeder Kit (rubber) - DeLorean Parts (deloreango.com)

I considered it, but figured it must be possible to bleed the cooling system how it came from the factory.

Yes, the second one, invaluable for just over 20 quid

[Justwatching]

On 24/03/2024 at 19:42, rattlecan said:

Yes, the second one, invaluable for just over 20 quid

I wonder if we're all just doing it wrong. Here's why:

The return side of the radiator has two hoses - one small diameter at the top (where air would gather) and one large diameter hose at the bottom to take coolant back to the engine. From what I understand, the two join together after the radiator and use the venturi effect to draw air out of the small hose into the main coolant return pipe. The coolant return pipe slopes upward to the engine bay where it 'T' joins with the expansion tank which is correctly placed above it to be the highest point in the cooling system. This should be a self-bleeding system as-is (bar the thermostat housing which has its own bleed valve). 

My first two attempts at bleeding the system both went pair shaped at the same point - seconds after the radiator fans turned on there was a surge and coolant started errupting out of the header tank. I'm not sure if this was some kind of thermal effect from the rad core temp suddenly dropping, or the unpressurised coolant happened to boil off at the same temp that trips the otterstat. Not sure. But for my third attempt, I simply bled the thermostat housing, ran it until the thermostat opened, and once I wasn't getting obvious bubbles back to the header tank called it job done. That seemed to work fine. 

[rattlecan]

The auto bleed kit goes from the stat housing & T’s into the small hose into the header, thus self bleeding continuously. 

[Justwatching]

I replaced the Jeep's O2 sensor today. That cured the hanging RPM issue. Engine feels like it has better mid-range performance, too.

Ordered sway bar bushes as well. The existing bushes weren't causing an issue, but looked a bit knackered. 

before:

After:

Next issue was the steer wheel - it's off centre and that annoys me. 

There's a rod (don't know what it's called) that connects to the steering box pitman arm. You can set the steering wheel position by adjusting the length of this rod. In theory, once you loosen the locking clamps, you should be able to twist the rod (which is threaded at both ends) and adjust the length. As expected, it was rusted solid and had to be removed entirely.

After a torture session in the bench vice with a blow torch, I got everything freed up. The joints weren't loose, so I just replaced the boots and re-greased them.

I think I have it centred now. At least I can adjust it easily if I need to. 

Lasting thing on the Jeep is a new CB antenna. I didn't like the two-piece version I had, so got a proper one from the States. Very happy with it aesthetically, just need to install the radio. It even fits* under the carport!