hi all
just thought i'd post this as it was a while ago, and mike have a bit of interest for someone.
i was doing some research a few months ago, and spoke to an ex employee at lotus, who was manager of the powertrain section in 79-80 or so.
now he claimed that lotus in the UK were asked to develope a twin turbo engine for the D. he definately said John D demanded the twin and not single, and this ran along side the legend developement.
whether this is true or not i don't know and if an engine was built.
he certainly knew details of the lotus scrapyard where the test cars were destroyed, and i have spoken to them and no parts remain.
i asked if they had kept/buried any black bodies (which would have been very early perhaps rough finish) but everything was destroyed...sacrelidge
i also know of someone who worked at the company who developed the speedo pod, but unfortunately as with a lot of UK car industries this has gone bust and the drawings lost. i am trying to trace if anything remains.
just thought i'd share this.
Regards
Steve
doc 370
vin 1621
There're a lot of myths and legends surrounding the engine development. Whatever really happened, the engines themselves are rare as hen's teeth, not actually very good and cetainly not reproducable without spending thousands.
On the other side you can get hold of a later turbo renault engine for less than £500. Fitting, wiring, exhaust and intercooling are additional on either type, and that costs money too.
I thought the twin turbo engine was put on a test bed and ran on full boost for over 60 hours non stop. I can't remember where I read that now I would have to find that book.
I wouldn't say no to one though!
NickT.
Well im sure some one will Nick :lol:
cheers tony TT
yea right billy boy you never had a drink who you trying to kid lol give us a ring mate
hi
does anyone know if Lotus did develop one?.
i was surprised as i thought legend had that 'job' to do.
not sure if he was bad mouthing, but he did say that at Lotus they did not see the Delorean as competition. and did say not all ex employees would want to talk...ie sensitive about the missing money and Colin Chapman.
Regards
Steve
NickT Wrote:I thought the twin turbo engine was put on a test bed and ran on full boost for over 60 hours non stop. I can't remember where I read that now I would have to find that book.
I wouldn't say no to one though!
Marc's engine is one of the test bed engines, now in #1860. The fuelling in it has had to be fudged in order to enrich under boost and it's done with a MAP sensor and extra injectors. I suspect this engine was internally correct but never finished off properly
The internals were made for testing and not for production. It rattles like hell when first started until it warms up because of piston slap. It's also very thirsty. Marc's got it set up to 12psi but they were tested at 18 according to Fred Dellis.
The most famous one, #502, has been off the road for years and isn't running at the moment. Marc's is the only one that is on the road. You should've taken the opportunity at Lotus to pick his brains :-)
I seem to recall that Chris P had purchased from somewhere (Ebay, perhaps?) a copy of a Lotus proposal for the turbo project. I glanced at it briefly at NEC in 2001, I think.
James
Infact 502 has just been sold and is now undergoing restoration. Rob Grady used to own it but he has sold it to ......
Tony Ierardi .....DMC Florida
Not quite. Tony is brokering a deal with the new owner
Marc Levys car is set to run at a Max of 7 PSI and under normal driving gets to around 3-4 PSI. Marc has turned the boost down as he uses the car alot and wants it to last.
It's very hard to give allot of detail about the engines as Legend rebuilt them on a daily basis. It's possible that all of the engines had been in all of the Legend cars at some point
He has taken it on severial trips and covered 1000's of miles in it with no problems at all. It's the fastest automatic Delorean I have seen and flys off down the road like a sculled cock !!!!
It's a little bit heavy on the gogo juice but no more then any other turbo'd car. And I have driven it a few times too !!!!
How do I know all this ?? Well Im standing right next to it at the moment
Daniel Shane Wrote:Not quite. Tony is brokering a deal with the new owner
Sorry Dan, only repeating what Tony I has written himself on the DMCTalk
Love to know what he paid for this ....
Quote:-
On October 25th 2006 I bought the famous Legend Twin Turbo VIN 502 from PJ Grady inc. Rob Grady did not have the time to finish this important piece of DeLorean History and decided to sell it. After the restoration of Proto 1, finishing 502 should be much easier. I will post up more pictures and info in the days to come.
Tony Ierardi
DMC Florida
PS: The last 2 photos is one of a handfull of cast intakes that were made that would have been on the production twin turbos. Rob had one and I just had to buy it. It does not go on 502 but it will make for a fun conversation piece on the display engine in my showroom.
Thanks for posting that Dan..
Also, the "piston slap" was by design for these prototype engines. The few times I heard 502 running, it sounded exactly the same.
I have mixed feelings on the sale of 502. Based on Tony's track record, I am sure it will get a good restoration and continue to be shared with the DeLorean community at future events.. But then I can no longer claim the only Legend Twin Turbo "on the road".
Rob still has 530 in his shop, and most (if not all) of the bits to restore it.
If I still own 1860 in a few months, I think it will be getting a 5-speed gear box. The turbos do run better with the the automatic, but the gear box is slowly dying due to the additional power.
Just to say hello and bring this thread op to date VIN 502 is now in New Zealand. I am from the UK originally but emigrated to Wellington, New Zealand in 1986. I am a radiologist and the proud owner of VIN 6191 and now 502. 502 arrived last week after a long sea voyage from Miami. It has now cleared MAF to check there are no spiders on it, Customs to make sure there are no $s left in my bank account and now awaits VINZ to register it for New Zealand. More $s. Hope to have it running in a few weeks. They feel it should have a few L/H front tie rod! DMC Texas here i come. I plan to run it at weekends. DeLoreans are rare as in NZ about 9 registered but due to privacy regulations I cannot find out by whom. We could form a club or do something useful if we wern't so damm PC here! I enjoy the UK forum. Keep up the good work and hope to visit some of you on my family visits back to "old blighty" Kind regards Trevor