The DeLorean Owners Club UK Forum

well, I finally managed to get VIN 10719 back to the Midlands over the weekend. It was a stressful day in places. When I turned up at the dock they went off to get the car, then nothing for over three quarters of an hour. Finally I was told she was refusing to start, but a "fitter" was sorting it out with a power pack. Finally after over an hour and a half the car appeared. By this time the fuel gage was right on the red line, so I had to jump in and bite the bullet, driving it for the first time in busy Southampton traffic in order to get it to a filling station in time. As someone who has only ever driven a power assisted car it came as a bit of a shock, and I think I'm going to have to brush up on my skills with gear changes etc. But she ran very well all the way home to Leicestershire without anything major. Thrilled with the car and can't wait to get here all sorted.

There are a few issues which maybe be can help out on.

First is that some damage was done to the front spoiler. You can see it on the picture below. Looks like the spoiler came to rest on something and flexed upwards. The rock screen has been dented, plus the spoiler is split underneath.

When they tried to jump start the battery they seem to have pulled off the battery cover, splitting the plastic and seeming to loose some of the bolts that attach it to the bulkhead. Not sure if there should be some sort of gasket there as well. If so thats missing now. Plus the battery has been released from the strap as well. How many parts are there to the strap?

Both should be covered by the marine insurance I took out, but just been told there's a £250 excess! seems a bit rich considering.

The engine runs fine, but there is a strong smell of fumes, as if its running quite rich. It was very noticeable in the cabin while driving back. Is this normal?

The brake light came on and stayed on for most of the journey. The brakes seemed fine to start with, but seemed to get "spongy" as the journey went on. Not checked it yet but could this be down to a low level on the brake fluid?

The clutch has a very high "biting" point. Plus when accelerating the revs seemed to first increase without much increase in speed. Can this also be linked to low fluid levels, or might the clutch need changing (hope not)?

All systems, windows, lights etc work, but the electric mirrors seem to only want to adjust left or right, not tilt up and down. This is the same on both sides. Any ideas?

Thinking of seeing if Chris H can do the repairs to the spoiler and stuff on the insurance, then get him to look her over at the same time, especially as i've got to pay the excess. Would have done the work myself if this wasn't the case.

Thanks, I knows loads of questions.

Glad you made it home all safe and sound, If you can claim on the insurance then that may be the best place to go, the repairs will be well in excess of £250 (for the parts alone) Sometimes the back of the switch falls off for the mirrors, may well be worth poping it out to have a look. Fuel smell in cabin is usually related to leaks at the fuel tank. Brake light switch (IIRC) is attached to the pedal so thats probably the best place to start with that one.

Chris

Hi Mark,
Great to see the D home at last, let the MOT work commence.
Did you have any problems with blod on the way back to Leicestershire without any number plates??
Did you get the headlights of ebay and if so, were they any good.
Thanks
KP

Sorry mate
Clearly meant PC Plod don't know a PC blod

Hi Mark and Congratulations....

Following up on where Chris left off, your battery cover is held on by 2 bolts. If the threaded part is missing from the wood then its likely your mechanics have pulled the cover off and the bolts and captive thread have probably shot under the passenger seat somewhere. There should be a gasket though I would imagine it would be very tired if it were present, the battery strap is in 3 pieces, top, bottom and metal clasp... there is a guide on this here....

http://1561project.com/?page=batt-strap

Chris is definately right with the fuel smell, my guess is either the fuel pump boot or the filler hose... both conmon areas of vapour leakage and the boots split.

I had to change the clutch on my car the first year I had it.... followed by the clutch slave cylinder as removing it caused it to leak. Both the clutch kit and the slave shouldnt be more than around £200 for both. Clutch is an early renault espace 2.9 and the slave is a renault traffic van... go to parts cross reference for more info.

It may be wise to have to hand a new rear main seal in case yours is leaking, a new pilot bearing, and most people advise having the flywheel skimmed. I didnt change any of these and the car has done 3000 miles since with no issues.

One of the clubs clutch lines is a good investment too....

Have the brake light switch out clean and reinstall... that may be all that needs...

And i'm buying a stainless steel rock screen soon so if yours is unsalvageable, then you have a replacement option.... A good smart repairer can deal with your spoiler i'm sure...

You have just purchased one of the most fun to own cars there is.... niggles aside, and every car has them, just enjoy it!

Any questions then we are the guys!

Ben

nah KP, went past a few on the trip home but they didn't either care or notice. Glad really, nothing like being stopped by the police to ruin the experience. As for the light I got the Hella units in the end. Will have to sort out the hole needed in the buckets, but not too much of a problem.

Spoken to the seller as well and he said that he's had no problems with either the brakes or the clutch. In fact the clutch was new in 2010, so should be good. As for the leaking fluid, nothing showing underneath. At the weekend I'm going to have her out and check the levels. Bit of a tight squeeze in my garage (very tight indeed in fact. Must be the minimum size "standard" garage you can get), plus I've not been getting back home until 7pm each day this week, so not time to drive her out and check. Got two weeks off for xmas so will have time to sort everything out then.

As for the smell of fuel, might be me over filling the car at the pumps the first time while chatting to two guys about the car.It spilled over onto the over flow plate, so might well be the cause of the smell.Plus might be leaking lower down maybe near the tank with me filling it so high?

Will have to have a look at the mirror switch at the weekend, see if I cant get it sorted.

Still thrilled with the purchase. Knarked at the damage done during transport to the spoiler etc, but hay ho, will get sorted. Still one great looking car. Grabbing huge amounts of attention already. Had all the neighbours out when I got it home. Talk about a crowd puller!

[quoteIt spilled over onto the over flow plate,][/quote] :lol: :lol:
thats a right of passage with DeLorean ownership! :lol:

Chris

overfilling the tank is a common cause of petrol fumes in the cabin.

You have to fill the tank slowly (painfully slowly on my car at times), otherwise the
pump just clicks off all the time, but once you are getting towards full, once the pump
clicks off properly, dont do what you'd do with a normal car and squeeze a bit extra
in to round if up to the nearest £ on the fuel pump, stop filling the tank.

Sounds like your brake/clutch fluid are low if the seller says he replaced the clutch, but
might be worth checking the front pads and calipers - pads are 1981 Capri and cost around £10.

Anyway, great news on getting the car in time for Xmas, what a extra special prezzy for yourself

Quote:The clutch has a very high "biting" point. Plus when accelerating the revs seemed to first increase without much increase in speed. Can this also be linked to low fluid levels, or might the clutch need changing (hope not)?

If the system was low on fluid or had air in it, you would have to push the clutch in further, to get enough pressure to disengage the clutch

If you have a high bite point, that's usually a sign of a worn clutch. There is no self adjusting mechanism.

There was an adjustable link introduced which was designed to cure a problem with the clutch not disengaging properly (again, caused by air or low fluid)
The link fits in the pedal box and replaces part no. 101688 se this bullitin: http://www.dmcnews.com/bulletins/ST-07-9.82.html

If you have the adjustable link fitted and it's been adjusted too long it could be causing slippage...

Quote:All systems, windows, lights etc work, but the electric mirrors seem to only want to adjust left or right, not tilt up and down. This is the same on both sides. Any ideas?

Probably a dodgy switch. There are lots of notes online about people replacing them with SAAB switches or taking them apart and cleaning them up...

Looks like a nice car you've got there, hope to see it 'in the flesh' soon!

Good news is that I've spent the day sorting out the little niggles on the car. The stereo now works on all four channels, the smell of fuel has vanished (probably due to overfilling the car) and the passenger mirror works perfectly. The drivers side one still refuses to go up/down, but one good one is better than nothing, and its in a reasonable position for me. The brake light problems seems to be just about sorted. The sensor connection on the master cylinder was gummed up with silicon grease. Gave it a good clean and its all sorted. However, the handbrake doesn't seem to want to go all the way down (the rubber needs moving I think) which means the light can still end up coming on. The master cylinder does seem to be quite old, and also wobbles back and forth. Might need changing. That might also explain the soft brakes at times. The clutch seems much better, although with a higher biting point than I would like. I might just have to get used to it, but I imagine the master cylinder change might help there?

One final one was solving the problem with the battery running low too quickly. The cigarette lighter refused to work before so I pulled out the whole barrel. Seems all the contact were quite corroded inside. However, the lighter itself had been pushed in, so making a small, high resistance contact. Although the lighter didn't heat up enough to release it from the holder it did have enough of a contact to allow current to flow to earth, so draining the battery. Thank god it didn't heat up too much!

Handbrake is still slipping when on an incline, which is exactly what my drive is like! Thats a job for nest weekend with a jack and stands.

I would have finished changing over the lights to the new one but for the amount of interruptions I had from neighbours and passers bye wanting to know about the car. Actually it was really nice. I've got to know people in the street better today than in the last few months of living here. As for the amount of people just stopping their cars to take pictures and have a chat it was great to hear so many positive comments. One women even said that "I had made her day, not to mention put a smile on her face" and that she just had to stop to tell me. Great feeling to know people love the car as much as I do.

Glad to hear you had a good day sorting some jobs buddy...

I did the same today and got a fair bit done.

Keep up the good work!

flux3d Wrote:Actually it was really nice. I've got to know people in the street better today than in the last few months of living here. As for the amount of people just stopping their cars to take pictures and have a chat it was great to hear so many positive comments. One women even said that "I had made her day, not to mention put a smile on her face" and that she just had to stop to tell me. Great feeling to know people love the car as much as I do.

makes ya feel all warm inside

Welcome to the world of DeLorean ownership, your life will never be the same again! lol

Great to hear fixing little jobs is going well, if you need handbrake pads, Halfrauds sell them for
about £25 a set, you need to ask for Jag XJ6 3.4, circa 1975, if you check the parts x-ref there's bound
to be a link in there somewhere with part numbers to help you.

You need to adjust the handbrake up as much as poss, they are crap by nature, mine always just scrapes
through the MOT, even though it will hold on the hill near us with traffic lights that always seem to be on red
when you get to them......

ok, got the car here and all the old lights off. I've got four of the H4 Hella units with the side light sticking out the back. Now I'm a little confused as to how to wire up ALL four lights. This is what I was thinking:

The outer two lights can be wired up to the existing socket, as per the previous diagram where you swap the wires around.

Now, where do I get the side light from? Do I take the feed to the amber running lights below the main lights? If so, how do you do this, and what type of socket do you use, or do you solder them straight to the lamp holders?

Now, the inner two lights. These have a two prong connection and come on only when full beam is activated. Considering I have the same light units as the two outer do I just fit a H4 bulb and only connect up the high beam connections, or shall I draw a live feed from the outers for the dipped beam as well? This would mean that the low and high beam would operate on all four inner/outer lights.

Finally, could I also draw a live and earth from the outer side lights for the the inner two lights side light?

If I did all the above there would be four side lights on the first press of the light button, then four dipped beams on the second, and finally four high beams as well (like the originals).

What do people think? possible, or is there a better way. Will the wiring/fuses take the extra strain safely?

I think RichH or Martin G are the experts here, my car used to have the set up
where the outer lights were normal 'dipped beam', and the sidelights were the
inner lights (I've got halo's) and the front indicators lit up - and the inner lights
doubled as main beam/flash.

However, after my car had some body repairs done at a vendor, it came
back with the lights all wired up differently, including the back ones, which now
no longer have the nice looking '4 brake light' effect with the rear fogs between them
(my car also no longer has the original tailboards - amazing what you find out when you
have to replace the rear fascia.......)

Just another job to do on my car..... :roll:

Mark I think the lenses are different between the outers and inners.... if you have a sidelight hole in all 4 units it sounds like you have 2 pairs of outers... maybe ive misunderstood you....

The sidelights should operate on the outers on the first switch position (no sidelights on inners) and the dipped beam should operate on the outers on the second switch position (inners still off). When main beam is activated the outers stay the same (permanantly on) but the inners illuminate too. It is my understanding that each unit has a 2 pin bulb in it.... unless my car is different from everyone else's.....

I have an 'MOT' switch under the dash which cleverly changes the sidelight operation....
In the mot position the sidelights come on in the headlights, the front amber lights are indicators as are the amber front markers...
In the non mot position the headlight sidelights no longer illuminate, the amber side marker is permanant and the front markers are a dim amber which flash brighter when indicating..... The front markers are a 3 pole bulb....

Round the back i have tail lights in the middle of each cluster and 4 brake lights unless the fog light is on, in which case the far right brake lights glows permanant leaving the remaining 3 as the brake lights....

Complicated isnt it?

;-)