Full-blown rebuild/restore of my DMC-12 DeLorean

Over the last few weeks of having to drive the DeLorean as my main car owing to the Park Avenue's heads being at the shop being overhauled, I noticed some odd noises from the front end. When I investigated over the weekend, I found that the front frame extension- commonly known as the 'crumple tube' by the DMC community- had finally rusted through and broken in at least one location. Which is definitely not a good thing since the front sway bar attaches to the bottom of the crumple tube, meaning that it's only likely to break even further with continued driving from the forces the sway bar puts into it.

This isn't exactly a complete surprise- the fact that the frame had rust issues is something I've known about since buying the car some 6 years ago. I had just hoped that it would wait until it was a bit more convenient before progressing to the point that I had no choice but to deal with it. No such luck, I suppose.

Replacing the broken part will require a whole lot of work, not least of which will be pulling the body off of the frame to be able to access everything- which unsurprisingly is a pretty major undertaking. Since it's going to take so much work anyway, it only makes sense that anything else that I can/should/want to do to the car should be done while the body is off of it so I don't have to pull it again.

Obviously this will involve fixing, hopefully permanently, all of the rust issues on the frame- though I'm not yet certain of exactly how to go about that. Fixing the rusted sections is easy enough to get back to good metal and weld in replacement sections- it's how to protect it for the long-term that's a challenge. The typical 'spot fix' for broken sections of epoxy on the frame is to use POR-15, but since there are so many places I'm going to look into seeing if there are other comprehensive treatment options that are available to rust-proof the frame for another 30+ years.

Another major project I'm probably going to undertake while the body is off the frame is engineering putting a more powerful and reliable engine into the car. The stock PRV at its best puts out about 150HP, which is decidedly less power than ideal for a car that tops the scales at about 3300lbs. It's also not an engine many know much about to work on, and while parts aren't that difficult to come by from DMCH they are pretty much the only place to get them and some of the parts can get pricier than ideal. As luck would have it, one of my other projects at the moment is a car with an L67 supercharged series-2 Buick 3800 in it which in stock form puts out about 240hp and isn't too terribly difficult to get over 300hp out of. It should fit without too much fuss in place of the PRV- I know early on that 3800s were a popular engine to swap in. Obviously this will require a lot of re-wiring and probably setting up a standalone ECU to control it and interface with the car itself.

On the body side of things there are a number of issues small and large to be addressed. The roof box needs to be checked out- the car leaks badly when it rains hard, and unfortunately it won't be a surprise if the roof box is rusted and needs to be repaired or replaced. Both doors' locking mechanisms have some issues that need to be addressed as well as adjusting the torsion bars that provide most of the opening force on the doors. There's also a problem someplace in the wiring system that results in a slow drain of the battery that I'd like to take care of.... hopefully I won't end up having to completely re-wire the car, that would NOT be fun- but might help clean things up some.

Unfortunately I can't start any of this until I get the PAU and El Camino taken care of- and until then the DeLorean is still the only car I have to drive anywhere (thankfully I can bike to work most of the time now that the weather has improved). Once the PAU is running again I'll turn my full attention to the Elky and get it streetable so the DeLorean can be put into the garage (after some major cleaning and organizing so I have all the space I'll need for both halves of the car to be separated...).

So, the crumple tube crumpled?

Love me some Delorean!

SVreX wrote: So, the crumple tube crumpled? Love me some Delorean!

It not so much crumpled as crumbled- was severely weakened by rust and then broken by the force the sway bar puts on it. A NOS part from DMCH is like $1600, but there is someone working on making their own that should be around a third of that- or I may try making one myself.

I almost forgot- also on the 'major' list: There's someone working on a full-digital dash upgrade for the car that I'll be eyeing with interest. Especially if they come up with a workable way to get rid of the annoying angle-drive speedometer that the cars currently use (and that fails way too frequently). The same person is also working on really fancy Arduino-controlled LED taillights, but that might be a bit too far.

Since you're putting in a GM motor, and since there have been a few discussions about Corvette sawblades lately...I thought I would volunteer that I think Corvette sawblades would look pretty awesome on a DeLorean. What bolt pattern does a DeLorean have?

In reply to Ashyukun:

Is the frame on this formed from sheet metal like Chapman's other designs?

Can we please have pics on this build thread? I'll admit to being shallow and showing up for the pictures.

JamesMcD wrote: Since you're putting in a GM motor, and since there have been a few discussions about Corvette sawblades lately...I thought I would volunteer that I think Corvette sawblades would look pretty awesome on a DeLorean. What bolt pattern does a DeLorean have?

The DeLorean uses the standard GM 4-bolt pattern (4x100), the same as my old Saturn. The tires were literally the first thing I had replaced on it since the ones it came with were so shot I could barely roll the thing- but since it took me a year to be able to get to working on it I joked that I should put the DMC-12's wheels and tires on the Saturn for a while to keep them from just sitting around and getting flat spots.

I will at least be overhauling the wheels- the coating on mine has definite flaws. I haven't decided if I'm going to try and find more modern wheels using low-profile tires as opposed to the tall tires it currently uses- but if I do I'll likely be trying to keep fairly close to the 'turbine' look of the originals because it just looks right to me.

petegossett wrote: In reply to Ashyukun: Is the frame on this formed from sheet metal like Chapman's other designs?

Pretty much- here's a bare DeLorean frame (from an automatic vs. my manual, but they're almost identical):

I've never really thought about it, but yeah- it does pretty much appear to just be formed sheet metal. The part that is rusted through and I have to replace is on the front (right side of the picture) where the two 'horn's stick out. The bottom of the driver's side one is what is broken, and the whole thing has a lot of rust issues (as do a number of other places on the frame, like the crossmember under the engine.

Mezzanine wrote: Can we please have pics on this build thread? I'll admit to being shallow and showing up for the pictures.

I'm planning on photo-documenting this as thoroughly as I can, but won't actually be starting the work on it for a little while yet. I will be putting up pictures of it before I start work on it, but for the moment it's not someplace easy to take said pictures- once I get the PAU running and can swap them around I can take decent pictures.

I want to Subscribe to your newsletter.

This should be a fun build to watch.

I'll even volunteer my wiring harness building experience free of charge if you bring it to me.

A full harness will probably be cheaper and easier than fixing what you have, if it's anything like the rest of the early 80s stuff I've done.

There's a definite appeal (cost aside...) to simply re-wiring the whole car given there's a LOT that I will no longer need with not having the original engine (and a lot that would be redundant with the stand-alone).

The thing that I come back to though is that there's a part of me that doesn't want to do anything that can't be un-done down the line to put the car back to stock. Everything I've done so far has been such that it could be put back to stock- including saving all of the K-Jet parts that I pulled off to put on the carb. I'd want to keep the engine around as well, though there is a certain amount of appeal to simply getting rid of (likely selling it to other owners) the parts I replace/upgrade- keeping an un-used V6 around along with all the other parts would take up a LOT of space.

While you've got it apart, I'm sure you can find plans to wire in the flux capacitor and Mr. Fusion.

Acme Lab Rat wrote: While you've got it apart, I'm sure you can find plans to wire in the flux capacitor and Mr. Fusion.

Well, a Mr. Fusion would solve my battery-drain issues, but a Flux Capacitor would only exacerbate them...

O'reilly Auto parts lists a Flux capacitor in the parts computer. Found it the other day. And you can actually order it....

Dusterbd13 wrote: O'reilly Auto parts lists a Flux capacitor in the parts computer. Found it the other day. And you can actually order it....

Canoe without link!

This is gonna be good.

I will speak for the many here: I can't wait to live vicariously through this thread. A few years back, I found a cheap (as in CHALLENGE PRICED) DeLorean on CL. It was gone in record time. Someone got it as an inheritance from their dad, and it hadn't run in years. By the time I saw the ad, less than an hour after it was posted, it had just been sold.

I vote sideways 5.3L from an Impala SS.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/EB00/121G.oap

Wow. That chassis looks identical to the chassis of an Elite. I wonder if they share the same part number.

SVreX wrote: Wow. That chassis looks identical to the chassis of an Elite. I wonder if they share the same part number.

Assuming this is the Elite chassis, there are a number of similarities, but significant differences too. Honestly I like the Elite chassis better- it looks a lot more efficient from a weight standpoint given the number of flanged lightening holes in the center section and the use of tubing. It's a lot closer to what I'd like to see the DeLorean's frame look like. If I had a good way of making flanged holes, I'd be using it on the center section of the DeLorean's frame both for weight savings and accessibility.

I can't wait.

SilverFleet wrote: This is gonna be good. I will speak for the many here: I can't wait to live vicariously through this thread. A few years back, I found a cheap (as in CHALLENGE PRICED) DeLorean on CL. It was gone in record time. Someone got it as an inheritance from their dad, and it hadn't run in years. By the time I saw the ad, less than an hour after it was posted, it had just been sold. I vote sideways 5.3L from an Impala SS.

A LS4 would be an interesting powerplant for it, as it would probably fit better than most V8s would and would out of the box provide more power than the L67 even if it had modest improvements made to it- but the difficulty would be in finding one for a decent price when I already have a L67 sitting in the driveway that once back together should have cost total not much over $1k. Given the low number of models it was put in, I'd probably have an easier time finding a Gen IV 5.3 out of a newer truck.

I'd be more confident that the L67 will fit more comfortably though- having seen an LS1 swapped DeLorean and how hard it was to stuff it in, I'm more inclined to stick with a V6 than going to a V8.

Is your car an automatic or manual transmission and what will you be swapping with the L67?

RossD wrote: Is your car an automatic or manual transmission and what will you be swapping with the L67?

Mine is a manual transmission- automatic DMC-12s are pretty rare. I'll have to keep the DeLorean's original transaxle since not much else works in it (a Porsche transaxle will, but with a few minor reinforcements- the major of which I already have the part for- there's nothing wrong with the one already in the car). Working out the flywheel/clutch setup will be one of the more interesting challenges in the swap. I'm assuming I'll need the flywheel from a stickshift 4th Gen Camaro with the 3800 in it.

Ashyukun wrote:

SVreX wrote: Wow. That chassis looks identical to the chassis of an Elite. I wonder if they share the same part number.

Assuming this is the Elite chassis, there are a number of similarities, but significant differences too. Honestly I like the Elite chassis better- it looks a lot more efficient from a weight standpoint given the number of flanged lightening holes in the center section and the use of tubing. It's a lot closer to what I'd like to see the DeLorean's frame look like. If I had a good way of making flanged holes, I'd be using it on the center section of the DeLorean's frame both for weight savings and accessibility.

Get to work!

Punch and Flare tool - summit