Binnacle Repair - Part 1

The binnacle in VIN 10719 wasn't too bad, but it wasn't great. The previous owner had gone about getting it covered in leather at the same time as the seats. While it was done by a professional trimmer it didn't look too good. The whole binnacle looks "puffy" and distorted, rather than the sleek lines it should have. My biggest fear was what was underneath that exterior. The DeLorean binnacle is renowned for  splitting and cracking over the years as the vinyl covering dries out in the heat, becomes brittle, and with the constant motion of the foam underneath splits wide open. I've seen plenty of pictures of binnacle with huge cracks down the back caused by this type of damage. But, in the end I wasn't happy with how it looked, so despite the fact that NO new or NOS binnacles exist any more I decided to take the plunge and go about ripping off the poor covering job. 

First, I removed all the instrument cluster, which to my relief revealed no damage to the inside. This was a good sign that there wasn't any serious cracks to the outer binnacle.

In this close up you can see the outer "new" leather covering, then a layer of foam that has been applied to the original vinyl covering underneath. 

Pealing the leather off revealed the layer of foam that had been added to the outside of the binnacle. This was the cause of the "puffy" look. Its been done quite well, but a thinner layer of foam would have been better, and would have kept the original shape intact. 

Much to me relief the damage wasn't that bad at all, as you can see in the pictures above. However, there is quite a few thinner cracks all over the back of the binnacle. Plus the vinyl has buckled up in these places. The glue they used everywhere to attach the foam isn't helpful. It looks like impact adhesive, which hopefully will come off with some white spirit.

Here you can see the result of some white spirit and elbow grease. Note the black permanent pen down the side which they used to work out the stitching lines. Not very helpful when your trying to bring the original surface back to life. But with some acetone it too gave up the ghost. Even the sun damage was removed with the acetone, revealing the original grey colour underneath.

The original black plastic visor part on the inside of the binnacle was completely covered by the new foam and new trim as well, so that needed cleaning back as well. It'll need a re-spray as well once this is done.

This was the first attempts at filling the cracks in the binnacle. I got a liquid vinyl repair kit online which I thought would make an excellent material to repair the many cracks and holes in the surface. Its flexible, can be mixed to the correct colour, then heated to cure. It should result in a good base layer for the repair, and resist cracking in the future.

While the result was OK, the new vinyl was far from a good match to the existing vinyl, especially the patten. The repairs, even when sanded down, still stood out a mile. The problem was that the repaired area ended up being flat and smooth, while the rest of the existing, original vinyl has a subtle grain which contrasted strongly. The only way this binnacle is going to look good again is if I treat the whole surface area in the same fashion. Rather than using the vinyl repair stuff (which I wasn't really impressed with and tends to tear when you sand it) I needed a better, long lasting and easier to finish treatment.

A trip to the local car supply shop turned up a good alternative in the form of bumper repair compound. Its flexible, so hopefully providing a long lasting repair, plus it can be sanded down easily to a good finish. Its a a form of epoxy, with a catalyst or hardener which is added to mix to activate the curing process. From the smell its polyester resin based, so would stand up to some grief. As you can see I've covered most of the surface, giving a top layer to repaint and re-dye using the same stuff I'm suing on the rest of the interior vinyl trim. Just need to sand it back to a good finish, base coat and give a final spray over. Watch this space for the final result!

New Laser Cut Keyring and Another Idea...

The other day I decided to sort out a keyring for the two keys I have for VIN #10719. Now I'm lucky in having access to a laser cutter at work, so after a little while on the software I came up with the above key-rings in black acrylic.

The two parts are actually the front and back of the finished key ring. I just glued them together with acrylic bonding solution or Tensol cement. I used the original DMC logo for the front, and the VIN number for the rear, both etched by the laser into the plastic.




I'm pleased with the finished result, and it certainly beats the rubbish plastic tag from the key shop with the VIN on it!

While playing with the laser cutter I also tried engraving an image of a D onto clear acrylic, the idea being that this can be side illuminated for dramatic effect. Check out the pics below. A work in progress, but pleasing never the less.

Trim Removal

So, the car came back from PJ Grady and I had a couple of great journeys around the area in her. Since having all the work done its a changed car. A joy to drive. Great fun, and I still can't get over the amount of attention you get. I pulled into the filling station (or petrol station as we call them over here) to fill the car up last weekend in the evening. As soon as I did everyone just stopped what they were doing, with most of the guys (its very much a guy thing) pulling out their phones to take pictures. They even allowed me straight to the front  to pay! How mad is that!

Anyway, you'd think I'd just enjoy the car, but no, I couldn't leave things alone. With some free days on my hands I started to remove the interior trim. The vinyl trim in #10719 is in good shape, but is a little discoloured in places. So my plan is to remove it and treat it with a spray STEM dye or re-colouring spray. This should return the vinyl to its factory condition. I'm also going to take the seats out, give them a deep clean (some brown/yellow colouring on them as well) and generally give them loads of car.

Other than that the carpets look pretty grubby. I'm not sure what to do with them. They may just need a clean, but I may invest in new ones from Dave Howarth here in the UK. Speaking to him tonight he has a "Roles Royce" carpet set which is even better than the original! Sounds great (well, not for my wallet).

Removing the trim also gives me chance to sort out the very lame sound system in the car at the moment. It suck big time. I'll be replacing all the speakers, front and back, with new versions, plus replacing the wiring to bring it up to a decent quality. The head unit also needs to be changed, and I'm thinking of a sub in the cubby hole to really take it to the next level.

The binnacle needs work as well. The previous owner had it re-covered in leather, but its FAR from a nice job. I'm just hoping to find a nice, un-cracked original binnacle under that exterior. I'm not hopeful. Why cover it if its in good shape. We will see.

Until then enjoy some pictures of the removal process. Look out for those sharpe door edges, and cool dates on the underside of the door headliners.





Gears...What a Nightmare!

Now, when I first drove VIN 10719 back from the port I had a nightmare with the gears. First seemed impossible to find, and second, well lets just say it was very interesting when approaching a junction. Nine times out of ten I end up grinding the gears as the transmission tried in vain to slip into reverse!

I thought it was just me. After all before driving the DeLorean I've been spoilt with modern cars with their smooth, easy to use gear boxes. I just needed to get used to it. I was being rubbish. Practise would soon have me changing through the gears with ease.....

Well, seems like its not just me. Chris N of PJ Grady had the car the other week and he couldn't even get it into first to drive it into his lock-up! He ended up putting it into third to get it going. Now Chris is far from a novice as far as driving the Delorean, so it was obviously something wrong with the box.

Turns out the previous owner had adjusted the gear linkage until it was miles out. The gears were biased all the way over towards fifth gear. God knows why. I can only imagine that being American, and the US having mainly automatics he just didn't know how to deal with a manual gear box.

Anyway, after MUCH tweaking by Chris N the gears are now 100% better. I can't believe it, I can find first and second with ease, and for the first time reverse can be found by first pulling up the gear stick, rather than by trying to find second at speed!

Trip to PJ Grady for Work

Well, following the repair of the frame the car was booked in for a few bits down with Chris N at PJ Grady. Remember that damaged and bent spoiler, cracked radiator cover and cracked battery cover? Well my marine insurers agreed to pay for these to be replaced by PJ Grady, so while the car was down there I decided to make the most of Chris and his skills and get a few other jobs done. So, here's the list of repairs:

• Repair and replace of spoiler, radiator cover and battery cover.
• Sort out that transmission leak by removing the transmission, replacing the clutch disk, press plate, throw bearing while in there and replace the final rear seal.
• Replace trailing arm bolts. The originals can become bent with the extreme forces placed on them by the rear wheels. You don't want these snapping on you at speed! Much easier to do while the transmission is out.
• See if he can sort out those gears (more of this later).
• Replace steering tie rod ends and steering gators.
• Change all the shocks to SPAXs - much better handling, ride and general all round feel.
• Change the springs from the originals (looking a bit knackered now) for lower springs at the front and new at the back. Result:- much better stance, with a lower front end. Makes the D look far more sporty, and is more in keeping with the original design.
• Remove a couple of dents from the bodywork, plus a scratch on the hood.
• Remove the after-market cruise control and return the car to stock.
• Replace the door struts with new ones. See if this helps the doors have more life and "rise" all the way.

Quite a bit of work, but in true DeLorean legend form Chris managed to do everything in one week. Absolutely amazing! The car feels, well, like a new car. When I turned up last weekend to collect her from his workshop I was blown away by the effect of the lowering front springs. The car looks great! Definitely worth every penny.

Talking of pennies, the cost of parts came in at about £1000. Ouch! Not cheap, and more than I was expecting. But, it will be worth it to know all that work has been done. I was banking on doing this stuff over the next few months, but with the expert hands of Chris N on offer it seemed silly not to take advantage. I don't regret it, but its beans for a while......

Oh, and as for those gears, see the next post...

Coating the Frame in POR-15

Well, after the black gunk had been removed I could see that some parts of the frame needed some TLC. Not too many, and no areas that could be called anything other than surface rust. The worst areas were where the master cylinder had leaked DOT 4 fluid on the frame near the drivers side front wheel and down onto the edge of the tank cover. Again, mainly just a case of the expoxy coming off and surface rust. The other area was the engine cradle which seemed to be a bit too flaky for my liking.

So, after treating with marine a rust removal product by the same people that do POR-15 the frame was ready to coat. POR-15 has a three step process of cleaning, prepping and coating, and produces a super hard coating which gets harder with exposure to water. Better than the original epoxy!

Its a slow process, and I painted all of the back part of the frame, including the engine cradle. I've also done all the front and down over the tank cover. Where the transmission sits the epoxy is in great condition so I'm leaving this for now. I'll probably go back in there soon and coat, but for now the other areas were the key parts in need of attention. I intend going back in when I have more POR-15 (its expensive stuff) and do the whole lot, then coat with a topcoat of spray paint in the correct colour for the frame. But for now things look a hell of a lot better.

Time for her to go down to Chris N at PJ Grady for some work on that leaking transmission.

Cleaning Off the Blank Gunk- Part 2

Well, its been a while since my last post, but don't worry I've not been slacking off on the car. Much has been done and I'll be bringing the blog up to speed over the next few posts, but first that awful black gunk.

Well after MANY hours of cold, painful, messy, smelly and down right vile work the bottom of the car was cleaned completely of all the black gunk. Now, the guy selling the car to me in the US had assured me that this was a spray on black "rhino hide" coating which they use on the beds of their trucks over there. Great I thought, googling the name and finding that its tough, strong and most importantly water proof.

Well, what a load of rubbish. This was far from Rhino hide paint, but was in fact a bitumen spray on coating which was applied to quite a few DeLoreans when they arrived in the US back in the 80's. It tended to be applied to those cars destined for the east or northern parts of the USA. While it was designed to protect that mild steel and epoxy coated frame, and indeed it did, time often means that water finds its way in and, with the black coating covering it the resulting damage can be harder to see. Not to mention its a messy, horrible coating which gums up all the bolts, parts and fixings under the car.

Well, in order to fix any rust of flaking epoxy on 10719 I needed to get it off. So, armed with loads of rags, paper towel and white spirit I went to work. The best technique I found was to put the white spirit into a spray bottle and spray a mist over the area to be cleaned. I then attacked this with a kitchen sponge, removing layer after layer.



One half cleaned off!



It was slow and painful work, but I slowly got back to the original epoxyy. I was doing this in January in the UK, with temperatures falling well below freezing. I had over eight layers on at one point, and was still freezing cold! Laying on a cold concrete floor doesn't help, especially when your working under a two tonne car. However, I did get another set of stands so I could get both ends of the car right up in the air and all four wheels off. 

I managed to get it all off, and in turn revealed a few bits of flaky epoxy that needed work. The main part was where the leaking oil from the transmission had exposed the metal on the engine cradle. It seems to just be surface rust, so I'll clean it back and probably paint in POR-15 grey. Soon be a s good as new!

Cleaning off the Black Gunk - Part 1

Well, to get the frame back into tip-top condition, and to remedy those areas of rust, I need to get rid of that black gunk all over the frame. Yes, I could keep it on the frame. In fact that was what I was originally thinking of doing. But I found out the hard way that its much harder to see any rust that's forming and catch it quickly. In the future I don't want any unwanted surprises!

So, armed with rubber gloves, white spirit, sponges, detergent and just about everything else I attacked the gunk!

After some trial and error I found the best technique for getting the stuff off. First, I gave it a good spray over with some engine cleaner called "gunk" - seems fitting! This seemed to soften the black layer, but not really dissolve it enough to allow me to wash it off. I found that good old white spirit and a kitchen sponge, with its rough side as a means to "agitate" the surface and allow the spirit to penetrate. With some elbow grease the spirit will turn the tar-like coating into a thick, gravy like black-brown liquid which I could either wipe off or wash off with soapy water.

The process is slow, messy and stinks! I'd set the back of the car up on stands on the road outside my house. As mentioned before my garage is a little on the small side, and the car only just fits in. However, January isn't the time of year to be lying on your back under a car wiping off black sludge with water and white spirit. Then getting coated in the same water and sludge mix. I ended up being very cold indeed.

Next time I'll try to set the car up in the garage. I'm planning to get another set of stands so I can have both ends of the car up and all wheels off. If I do this under cover I'll be able to really get stuck in!

VIN 10719 Passes the MOT!

Well, finally, after much hard work the big day came on Thursday, the 3rd of January 2012. The car was booked into the MOT station for 10:15 am and I drove the car down to the test centre for the big moment. As usual the car drew quite a bit of attention from people in the street as I drove down to the garage, plus even more when I parked it up outside the MOT station. Just about every single guy at the station came over to have a look, and soon she was up on the lift.

I took the chance to take a good look under the car, the first real look I've had at the rear of the car and frame. Alas the news wasn't good. The frame just below the engine and clutch and transmission was covered in gunk and oil, and again the epoxy was lifting away from the frame. Again this looks like its been like this for some time and will need attention! I need to get that awful black tar gunk off the area to look at it better and hopefully sort it out pretty soon. As for where the oil/fluid is coming from, that's also hard to tell. The dirt and gunk hides the spot really well. I'll just have to clean it down and investigate, but my gut tells me its the clutch rear seal thats weeping lubricant. That probably explains the problems in shifting and high clutch biting point. Either way, its not an easy or cheap fix!

The good news is after leaving the car in the capable hands of L&H services to do the MOT for an hour it passed with (nearly) flying colours. A couple of things need doing. The drivers side track ends on the steering rack need attention, plus the "full beam" warning light on the dash isn't working, nor is one of the number plate lights. Nothing which stopped the car passing the MOT. Next stop the DVLA and getting the car registered and fitted with a number plate. Then VIN 10719 will finally be "street legal".

Failing Master Cylinder....and Rust

Well, with getting everything ready for the MOT I came across one real problem with VIN 10719. The brakes had been playing up since I got the car from Southampton. After getting the car back home I'd checked the master cylinder and fluid reservoir and all seemed fine. The level was fine back then, but the brakes still seemed spongy, a problem which only seemed to get worse as time went on. Then a dreaded patch of clear oil appeared on the garage floor, right below the MC area of the car.

Sure enough the MC had been leaking oil out of the back, via the rear seals, down the front of the vacuum assist/servo unit and, worst of all, onto the frame. The DOT 4 fluid is very corrosive and had eaten away at the epoxy on both the frame and the tank cover.

Now, when had this all started. Some of the areas indeed look like they are pretty fresh. The epoxy has been damaged, but the steal below only had surface rust. But, further down the frame and on the tank cover the layer of rust was more pronounced, pointing to an older problem. Talking to the previous owner he assured me that "there had never been a leak", but the evidence does point to something that's been going on for some time. But, whatever the case this needs sorting.

Pulling the MC out revealed the problem with the rear seal. The whole area was dripping with fluid. The seal should stop any fluid finding its way back here, so that must be the point of failure. The question is what to do? The MC is original, and some searching on the net and questions on the forums revealed that to try and recondition the MC would be a false economy. The bore inside the MC was probably badly corroded and any reconditioning would be more expensive than a replacement.

So, biting the bullet, I purchased a MC through the DeLorean Eurotec club shop, which thanks to some excellent service turned up in a couple of days, and this over the New Year weekend as well!

With the MOT booked for the 3rd of January I needed to work fast. I pulled the old MC and servo unit out of the car and cleaned up and repainted the servo unit to look as good as new. The old reservoir is a part in very short supply, and was in great order, so that was transferred onto the new unit. Its held on with a couple of pins, so easy enough to do. 

All the new parts went into the car pretty easily, and the brakes were bled using an easy bleed system to pressurise the MC and fluid tanks. I've never done anything like this before, but it all seemed to go very well, and the brakes are transformed. 

The rust needs looking at, but I've already cleaned the black "tar" protection off the tank cover and affected frame area. Not a pleasant job! My car seems to have had this "protective" covering applied at some point. The previous owner had told me before purchase that it was a special "rhino" paint they use on flat bed trucks over there, but that's nonsense! This stuff is like a tar coating which can be scrapped off with a blunt tool. You'd never want it on the bed of a truck, it would get everywhere! I'll need to get it off all the frame, and that's going to be one hell of a job. But for now the brakes work, which is the main thing.

Fitting a Fog Light - Part 2

Well, following the problems last time with the two lights I installed being WELL below power I went out and purchased a new unit.

The new unit came from Halfords and is basically a fog light unit designed to be bolted to the underside of a cars bumper, so adding a fog light. Its an enclosed square unit including a single 12V bulb and reflector, plus a screwed down red lens.

My idea was to stick with the concept of installing a new, purpose fog light within the passenger side rear light unit. The open "centre" running light lens was a perfect position. It wouldn't detract from the brake light function, and would only enhance  the running lights.

The purchased fog light unit was simple to open up. The red lens wouldn't be needed, but the reflector was needed to get the most out of the bulb. However, it was a little on the large size. Kept original it would get in the way of the running light bulb. So, simple fix. Just cut it down to size with a hack saw. This cut-down unit was then wired up with a couple of wires terminating in spade connectors and fixed to the inside of the rear unit using some double-sided foam pads (the sticky types). Bingo, one (concealed) fog light.

The wire back to the switch through the left side pontoon was used, as shown in part 1. As many people have done before I cut a hole in one of the dummy switches for a 16 amp illuminated switch, which would show when the light was on (an MOT requirement). I then needed a live feed from the headlight circuit so the fog light would only work when the headlights were on.

To add this function I tapped into the dipped beam headlight relay in the fuse box. The slot on the left-hand side at you look down from above is the one you want. I simply pushed the bare wire into the slot before re-seating the relay. I'll sort a more permanent connection if all works! It also needs an in-line fuse holder and a 10 amp fuse adding, just to make things safe.

With all connections made the last thing to do was to connect an earth from the illuminated switch to the earth (which I had now found and correctly installed) on the cigarette lighter, allowing it to light when in use.

All back together and it worked! One discreet fog light, without modifying the PCB board, or having to have an ugly light of the back of the car.