My freshly painted garage floor, Simple Green, Armor All, Windex, 303 Aerospace Protectant, Leatherique kit,
DMC Owner’s manual and parts manuals, windup LED flashlight. Something is missing…
My car arrives
The infamous Flux Capacitor
D with many tv screens
more tv screens
My car
parts
Dave’s office
My car
Ken k working on the door
someone’s clean interior
Ryan B’s car
My mom with the car
Back from Crystal Lake (again)
My D is finally home.
The owner sent me a few emails. He received the new evaporator, and was installing it. He’s been working hard to get everything diagnosed and working before Saturday morning. Once he charges the AC, he’ll start reassembling everything. He’s got some touch up painting to do, so we’ll probably end up doing some of the last cosmetic stuff at the DMC (Midwest) Open House.
Weather for Saturday looks great! It’s rained here the past couple of days, but should be in the 70s for the weekend! Perfect weather to drive the D J
I’m so excited. It’s been over ten years, and now it’s down to less than 48 hours!
Since finishing refurbishing the car coincides with the DMC (Midwest) Open House, the plan was the owner would deliver the car to me when he came up to attend the event. On Monday, April 23rd I got an email from the owner:
I got the new evaporator all right and started to put it in.
However I slipped with a screwdriver and stuck a nice hole in it so I now have to redisassemble the dash again and order another evaporator.
This basically killed my chances of the car being done this weekend, thus I would not buy it yet. His email said to give him a call, so we talked for about 15 or 20 minutes. He doesn’t want to try to repair the puncture – he wants to use a brand new part that won’t fail. I can certainly respect this. He was upset that he wasn’t going to make it on time, and this was the first time he was going to be late on one of his projects. He sounded very tired, and frustrated. He now has to take apart the dash again, which is very labor and time intensive. I was disappointed, but as I told him, “I’ve waited over ten years, so I can wait a few more weeks.”
The good news is that he plans to still bring the car to the DMC Midwest Open house. He wants me to go over the car, and I can test drive it and even help out if there is some work to be done. I do plan to learn how to service this car myself, so this is a big opportunity. I’m still looking forward to Saturday J
I’ve compiled a list of all the items that the owner has repaired or replaced:
mostly new fuel system, new fuel pump
new brake system
new rear brake hoses
new tires
fresh powdercoated wheels
CD player panasonic 3034 I believe with mp3 and remote input
new kicker 4×10 speakers in rear
new front speakers
refurbished dash, binnacle
New leather seats, A posts, and knee pads
clean carpets
new relays and fuses
New remote door launchers
new window motors
the upper half of the motor has been rebuilt
looks like a new torque converter
new front and rear main seals
good refurbished motor mounts
replaced fan blower motor
new otterstat switch
new oil pressure regulator
fixed the oil pressure sensor cable so the light works
fixed the seat belt light
fixed the tranny dip stick leak
new air compressor, air conditioner
replace the dryer and probably the orfice tube
new headliners
new weatherstrip
refurbished front and rear fascias
New glove box
most bulbs replaced
replaced faded side marker lights
undercarriage on this car is clean no signs of significant rust (some rust on bolts and a few chips in undercarriage epoxy that will be cleaned up before the sale.
idle control valve
change door locks
seat belt on passenger side
weatherstrip to go on passenger side
rear view mirror
fix drivers mirror
detail black trim parts
replace door struts
Fixed the rear storage compartment
fixed two clips on the front grill
The knee pad stud was replaced
The shifter plate was repaired (no longer avail so it had to be fixed)
I replaced the right angle drive and have the instrument cluster back in
replaced the right angle drive so that all works.
rear storage compartment cover
I searched the DML for any reference to 16908. Surprisingly, someone had posted about it in 2005, and it was not the current owner. So I sent an email to this previous owner, and got a response back. FYI, I’m hiding names to protect people’s identity. This was the reply:
Ed,
I’m glad to hear the car is getting a good home. I did sell it to ____ last fall and actually saw it a few weeks back while on a business trip to Cincinnati – like all of his work it looked and sounded great.
As to my history with the car, I bought it a couple of years ago as my second DeLorean restoration project (my first was VIN1494 that I still own). Although the interior was a mess, the engine & transmission were in good shape. More importantly this car basically had the straightest, closest to perfect body on a Delorean that I’ve ever seen as well as a perfectly rust free frame. After buying it I changed jobs, moved, and simply ran out of time.
I actually bought 16908 out of the Auto Trader from a guy in Macon Ga who had purchased it at a sheriffs auction in McDonough, GA. This guy basically bought it solely to turn around and only had it for a few months. As to why
it was sold at auction, the former owner (prior to the one I bought it from) had left it at a mechanics shop and failed to pay the bill – the deadbeat owner was the second owner. After it sat there for six months or so the shop placed a lien against it and the Henry County (GA) Sheriffs Department auctioned it off on the courthouse steps (I gave ____ all of the original, notarized paperwork from the auction).
Anyway for what it’s worth I don’t think you can go wrong buying the car from ____ – he does work and is a great guy who genuinely loves these cars. Like I said I saw it a few weeks ago and frankly wish I had the $ to buy it back myself.
Let me know if I can provide anything else. Best regards,
_______
It’s really great when the previous owners of your car can give you so much information on it. I’m so excited to be buying this car!!!