🔧 BUILD Timelord Adventures - 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 Project

[dmctimelord]

This is an awesome thread. I honestly have never heard of a turbo DMC.

Yes sir! Matter of fact John DeLorean had a team working on a turbo setup for future models of the DeLorean. DMC went into contract with a company called Legend Industries to develop a turbo DeLorean. I believe there were only 4 of those made. Then shortly after there were a couple after market options. There was a BAE single turbo kit and a company called Island Turbo came up with a twin turbo setup (which is what I have). Because of the limited output of the K-Jetronic fuel injection that the DeLorean has and the need to beef up the internals of the engine, I am only able to run 5 MAYBE 7 lbs of boost. But quite honestly as light as the car is, this give it JUST the zing it needs to be fun! Below is a picture of mu engine and an original ad for the Island Twin Turbo kit!



This one is not mine but the rear fascia is removed to see the turbo setup that I have.


An original ad.

 

[DanJ]

Damn that’s cool. Really can see it better with the front end off.

 

[v6buicks]

Damn that’s cool. Really can see it better with the front end off.

*Rear

 

[DanJ]

Ah yes. That.

 

[Aircal]

So no LS swap story?.......lol loving the walk through, thanks.

 

[dmctimelord]

So no LS swap story?.......lol loving the walk through, thanks.

As much as I would love to swap something with some more pep, I want to keep this engine running as long as I can. I have to say being a 40 year old engine, its been really dependable. One day though if/when she goes I might consider an LS or other powerplant option! There is a guy in the DeLorean community putting a turbo Kia Stinger engine, then there are the JZs and other variants

Ill leave the swap for a much later post!

 

[Pro Stock John]

Neat build, following.

I know a really talented welder in Mt. Prospect, tigs for high end projects. I can give u his mobile if you decide to ask him if it's doable.

 

[dmctimelord]

Neat build, following.

I know a really talented welder in Mt. Prospect, tigs for high end projects. I can give u his mobile if you decide to ask him if it's doable.

Thank you! I will let you know!

 

[dmctimelord]

OK well sorry it has been a few, the holidays and all kept me pretty busy. Hope all my TCG fam had a fantastic Christmas!

Well I was able to get the rear end reassembled. The weather was getting colder so I didn't take a lot of pics of the reassembly but looking at the teardown pics I think you guys get the idea! After the rear end was all back together I did grab a pic of everything put together. I also took some time to clean up the frame underneath and I am very pleased with how everything came out!



Once all together, it was time to bleed the brakes. Of course my OCD kicks in and I think to myself, "Update and replace anything I can that is 40 years old and prone to rotting or failure. So my sttention went straight to the master cylinder and servo assembly. To access this, you have to remove a panel in the frunk or "bonnet" to see it. There is a small access door to add and check brake fluid, but you cannot really see the whole assembly. Sure enough I removed the access panel and saw this (this was after I removed the reservoir of course.....



The servo was soaked in brake fluid. I had took note that a lot of the rubber gaskets were hard and probably failing. I was able to track down a full Girling master cylinder rebuild kit and servo kit and thus began my work!



Old rubber seals:




Here is a wide shot to show you how you get to this stuff! The hard pain was removing the bolts on the servo. Tight spaces!


With the servo booster out, I gave it a good cleaning and replaced all the o-rings and associated hardware:


Once everything was reinstalled and cleaned up I began the brake bleed process. I cannot stress enough about using a power bleeder tank to force all the old brake fluid out. My brake fluid has not been changed in 2 years and THIS was what was in my system. As brake fluid breaks down it becomes very acidic and eats up and corrodes internal brake components. If you have an older car and this has not been done lately, I highly recommend it!



So once this was all done I decided to take a break from working on the car and take it for few test drives. With the rear suspension alone completed, the car already drives like a dream! Not to mention i had to snap a few Christmas pics for her Instagram account! Here you go, enjoy!

I will be back at it shortly after the new year, so dont worry I will post more real soon! Have a Happy New Year everyone!

 

[IDAFC21]

God bless you and your OCD This thing is turning out great

 

[dmctimelord]

God bless you and your OCD This thing is turning out great

THANK YOU! And a happy New year to you! I might post pics of some other work I have done in the past to keep things going Stay tuned!

 

[dmctimelord]

BTW Anyone know of any good reputable powder coat businesses out there (preferably western Chicago burbs area) who are good at wheels and suspension parts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

God bless the way stainless steel reflects neon lights.

 

[SleeperLS]

Damn man, nice!

 

[dmctimelord]

Damn man, nice!

Thanks my friend!

 

[dmctimelord]

Hi TCG fam!

I know its bee a minute since my last posts! I didn't really have any new updates as it got bitterly cold out and had some house projects I needed to work on! Now that the weather is starting to break I decided to go all in and start the front end before the car season starts this year! Looks like a lot of events are boing planned and let me tell you, I have car show cabin fever! 2020 SUCKED! So I have a new found boost of energy tog et all this work done before it gets too nice out!

Goals!

Well pretty much the same as the rear end! We have a few different components that the rear. One of the very weakest links in the DeLorean suspension is its front lower control arms. It is well documented that these can tend to crack right at the sway bar point from the fore and aft bending from braking and accelerating over the years and the twisting that also happens. Here is a FANTASTIC video that shows the flexing of the LCA on a DeLorean -

There are a couple fixes to this, there are aftermarket LCA's that are beefed up, aftermartket side braces, or you can box in the bottom of the LCAs with a piece of metal. The bottom of the OEM LCAs are open and boxing them in adds that needed strangth. I guess we will see the condition of the LCAs and go from there. So here is the breakdown list for now:

• Remove/clean wheels and rim.
• Remove all brake hardware and clean/rebuild/powder coat or paint.
• Replace original brake lines.
• Replace front wheel bearings.
• Remove original shocks and springs and replace with new QA1 coilovers.
• Remove spindle and clean/paint.
• Remove upper and lower control arms.
• Replace any original bushings on UCA/LCA
• Remove sway bar and clean up and paint.
• Replace all sway bar bushings and hardware with poly.
• Add low profile aftermarket upper shock tower brace.
• Clean/treat frame and nearby parts and accessories.
• Clean up fiberglass tub in wheel well area.
• Reassemble.....Whew!

Well? Lets get started!

 

[dmctimelord]

So today I will shoot off some before disassembly pics!

Enjoy!

 

[Pro Stock John]

If/when they crack, do the cars get a lot of other damage?

 

[v6buicks]

Seeing Delorean updates makes my day. I actually considered getting one if I sold the GN. Then I saw how much they shot up in price! I'll just enjoy them through the internet instead.

 

[dmctimelord]

If/when they crack, do the cars get a lot of other damage?

I have heard both ends of the spectrum. One person had it fail maneuvering in a parking lot and another was driving on a highway when it happened and wheel detached kinking up the left stainless fender which are very hard to come by now as DMC had not made enough replacement left fenders before they went out of business!

I would rather play it safe and just upgrade. At 40 years old, wouldn't hurt!

 

[DEEZUZ]

One of the best TCG threads currently.

5/5 would dine again.

 

[dmctimelord]

Seeing Delorean updates makes my day. I actually considered getting one if I sold the GN. Then I saw how much they shot up in price! I'll just enjoy them through the internet instead.

Nice and thank you! Well I have seen some nice GN's going for n upwards of 35-45K which is a good entry point for a decent running DeLorean that probably needs some updates. My first car was a 1980 Cutlass Supreme and ever since then I have loved that type of body style! Then I saw a really muscled up GN and fell in love! Very nice car my man!

 

[dmctimelord]

One of the best TCG threads currently.

5/5 would dine again.

Thank you my friend, much appreciated! Fairly new here but I have to say the community is really awesome on here. Its a great place to document our cars and what we do with them! I cannot wait to get her back on the road and do some of these meets!!!

 

[dmctimelord]

Well you guys know I cannot help myself so i went ahead a took a few things off already LOL.

Here are some pics!


Driver side LCA and hardware.


Drivers side upper control arm.


Passenger side. I already see a little damage in the spring cup! These were lowered springs the previous owner put in. I suspect he didn't do the job right and bent the bottom spring cup on the LCA to squeeze in the spring. Lovely..


Caliper and brakes. Brake jobs are SO easy on this car.








Sway bar and old hardware.

 

[ChrisRac]

How hard is it to spec DeLorean parts?