Check the new project car
 

I bought 4875 from friend because he pretty much needed it gone. The only downside is he kept the drivers side torsion bar to sell because he needs the money. Sucks, yes.. Stupid, yes... do I care what you think... no. I think of it this way. The car will not be driving for a year or two and I will have my hands on one soon. Plus, the seller did need the cash so being a somewhat good guy I sucked it up and said... fine.I've waited since I was like 5 for one of these and just lucked out.

how much did I pay for this rolling pile of Delorean parts?

$2500

yes... It is fairly complete. The interior is all there, just apart since someone tried to fix it. The louvers are shot, the engine cover is gone. the engine is shot, the rear window is broken. The passenger door needs to be adjusted. the right rear quarter panel needs to be stripped and fixed or just replaced. But, everything forward of the engine compartment is in really good condition. The drivers side fender is mint, the binnacle is mint, seats are very good, carpets are clean. A post covers are perfect. The dash has one crack. The grooved hood has a small ding in it. I have two front fascias. It has the incorrect color wheels, but I do like them. Ha, and they have the proper center caps! Transmission appears to be fine. I'll probably tear into it or send it out to have the stronger input shaft installed. I have a rear fascia for it. I need to repair some fiberglass and fabricate a new section of the engine cradle. No rust on the frame. Just the usual surface rust on the fuel tank closing plate.

pics.. yes pics

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74...pics/004-1.jpg



http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74...20pics/003.jpg

the black panel is supposedly from the "fast and the furious" delorean..laaame

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74...20pics/002.jpg

looks like fun

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74...20pics/006.jpg

my friend getting in da benz. Rear fascia in the back seat.


check that grooved hood

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74...20pics/001.jpg

I'm so jealous

Man, if you go mad on the mods, people will think you HAVE come back from the future!!
Jealous too by the way. An iconic machine for sure. And made about 50 miles north of me!

ollie

Awesome find dude!

Best of luck!

http://www.therestisnoise.com/images..._money_pit.jpg

TheDon -

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can be the first Ecomodder to prove/disprove the Flux capacitor mod. If it works, can you go back in time and do some $0.90 gallon fillups for us?!?!?!? It's gotta be "unleaded era gas" only.

CarloSW2

Sounds like a perfect Electric conversion candidate :D

The seller kept the driver's side torsion bar? What the hell?

Isn't that kind of a limited market item to try to sell for cash?

Woah -- Interesting find!

Lots of work ahead for sure. At least the aftermarket parts biz is still alive.

Please tell me the dude didn't keep the Mr. Fusion :p

Any plans on an electric conversion, stock resto, or Stage-II upgrade???

RH77

Daannnnnng!!!!!

1.21 JIGAWATTS!!!

Put a 3-cylinder in it!

You lucky dog! Congrats dude!

A metro powered Delorean .. LMAO, that would leave me speachless.

I say go the route of Tucker and jam a helicopter engine in that bad boy .. LOL

no stage II from DMC.. they want a stupid amount of money for such a small increase in HP

no small 3 cylinder

no electric conversion( I need normal range)

It's going to be restored to a good condition but not concourse... Why make it councourse.. trailer queens blow


Yea, the torsion bar is like rare as hell. Last one went for $1500. The last drivers side fender went for like $2k. Other than that most of everything can be bought NOS

I will be getting a stock motor, a used one but guaranteed to last.

I figure 10k max to get it back to nice condition with an engine, frame repair, torsion bar, and a new body panel. So, $13k for a nice, running Delorean, especially an 81 with a grooved hood.. is very very good.

First of all, very cool car man.....

Second be very careful if you get it up to 88MPH.

Had you thought of a GM 3.8 supercharged swap? It could be done on the cheap and give over 300hp.

its going to be cheaper and easier to bolt in a built PRV( stock engine but with some different cams, upgraded ignition, headers, and intake)

A fella bought all of John Delorean's parts inventory,and has a company near Humble,Texas,hand building"new" cars.If you exhaust all other sources for used parts,they may be able to fix you up.Practice grimacing,as I presume prices will reflect rarity for these limited quantity components.Good luck!

"Marty... Do you know what this means?...."

another cool project car is what it means...

congragulations on the purchase and undertaking a big project

I drove a friends Delorean for an afternoon <back in 1990 or so> I sure got a lot of looks and stares. Didn't they come with a pretty common Renault V6 engine, popular in Europe back in the day?

So far as teh torsion bar, you might be able to have one made cheaper than the price you mentioned. I'd contact a serious offroad supply house like McKensie's in Anaheim... they have sources for parts for everything from Baja 1000 buggys to the big $150k V8 trophy trucks, even Indy car CV joints and the like. Custom diameter and length torsion bars that fit a VW style rear torsion housing (splined inner and outer) are kind of a common need. I know there are several guys in SoCal using custom made torsion bars. Sway-A-Way is one manufacturer that come to mind, I've talked with a rep at SEMA, they sometimes do custom axles and torsions. hope that helps ---Tom

a Delorean torsion bar is not what you think..

you are thinking of a sway bar which the term torsion bar can also be used.


The torsion bar is what opens the door, the gas strut dampens the lift. The torsion bars are made out of stainless steel, twisted 10 times in one direction and then cryogenically set so the molecular structure of the bar is set. Each side is different. The passenger side can be had for $400 because there is a 30 year supply in stock. The drivers side, none exists in the NOS fashion and the last bar went for $1500-$2000...

why not just place the gas strut with a motor actuator? Cheap and many different sizes available.

http://image.ec21.com/image/blue1463...e_Openers_.jpg

You can only go up to 87mph...because you know what happens when you hit 88!

wont open as fast, requires fabricating other brackets, probably not reversible, and space is a factor as well as weather.

i am insanely jealous.......

Great scott Marty do you know what this means?

Cool Car! I would want to Hollywood it up and make it into a BTTF replica. I have heard about people swapping in other more readily availiable engines, and you might want to consider thinking that over before going with the stock one. Parts are probably cheaper on a common GM motor than the stock one.

Later,

Allan Greenblazer

I thought about this as well. If you're going for "show-quality", of course stock gets bonus points.

But the PRV engine was noted to be slow for 1980's standards. Is the concern finding swap parts for another plant (plus the ECU stuff)? Is a forced induction a consideration?

RH77

Making brackets is not difficult. I'd replace your gas struts with pnumatic rams. Then when you open the doors it will SOUND futuristic! :D

I would never make a delorean a BTTF car, it ruins a perfect car in short order, plus you can't drive it anywhere at all.

I'm sticking with the PRV because its simple to install, readily available(I can get parts for it from a Volvo Dealership or online vendors), and it works.


KISS


The torsion bar stays, its proven and works.

The Bricklin SV1 used pneumatics and when they failed(which was often) the doors were so heavy the occupants would be trapped in the car. The Delorean door is around 80 lbs with glass and electronics in it.

So why didn't you just buy the torsion bar from the previous owner with the car? You COULD build a reliable pnumatic system instead of a p.o.s. that can't lift a door reliably. If pnumatics can be used in transport trailer suspension reliably, then it can be used to lift a door reliably. Probably cheaper than the 1500-2k for a torsion bar.

the I blew my savings on the car and the torsion bar was at $900 last I checked. They can be had for less than $1500-2k, thats just what the last one went for.

I know these cars inside and out, Like I've said, its proven and its simple.

900 is a more reasonable comparison with the cost of pnumatics, i suppose. I still think it would increase the cool factor... maybe a future mod once the car is sorted... you could get the money back reselling your two t-bars.

What does that beast weigh?

2800 lbs with fuel

Torsion bars stay, anything else, regardless of compelxity and quality lower the value of the car and also add in difficulties for future owners. stick to the K.I.S.S method and everything will work.


I've got the rear deck Louvers in my bedroom as well as the engine cover.

The Delorean will not be aeromoded at all....It will get an eibach lowering suspension for all 4 corners though. The underbody is already pretty clean since everything runs through the center back bone of the frame.

I am very excited that its coming home tomorrow. It feels like christmas.

wow, i figured it would be a heavier car. I suppose that is a BIT beefy for a 2-seater "sports" car. Congrats on a cool cult classic car.

its just under-powered.

:D

Do you plan on upgrading the PRV to the 190 HP version? Or just clean up the stocker?

I'm having a reputable PRV engine builder rebuild an engine for me to stock performance with the future option of cams and turbo's to be installed. I am going to get a set of headers for it though.

Very cool