Well, now that I have my Fiero, my '66 Toronado, and my two El Camino's... there's really only one car left on my dream list... (Besides a Pacecar Fiero >_> ) The Delorean.

I've spent all day getting a crash course on what the car is all about, and trying to find what information I can about their technology. I gotta say, I was a bit dis-apointed when I discovered they weren't actually mid-engines like our Fiero's. But excited when I found out they actually weighed about the same... I always thought Deloreans were really heavy >_>

I've started signing up at a few forums, to try to learn more, and find myself a car. But I was curious if there was anyone on here who might have, or know alot about them. Seeing as they have a bit in common with our Pontiacs. (Okay, just a little, tiny bit)

I'm hoping I can find one that's mechanically thrashed. But still pretty on the outside. I want this car cheep, like... $5K Though, that will never happen, so I'll go up to about $10K. And I want to throw as much GM made mechanics in there as I can. But there's very little information out there for power-train swaps on these cars.

I can't really find good illustrations on exactly how everything is oriented... It looks like the front of the engine (the belted side) points towards the back of the car, and the output goes forward... so, what does the transmission look like? It can't be a "typical" FWD transmission, because it would be going backwards, wouldn't it? Which is too bad, I'd love to drop a spare '66 Toro drive train in there if it could be crammed in there :P Would I pretty much be saddled with the DMC-12's Trans, or one from a similar rear-engine Lotus, or Porsche? They've got to have weird bolt patterns... not to mention cost a bloody fortune >_>

I'm not looking to make a monster DeLorean with crazy american muscle... I just want something I can actually afford to maintain, and if something breaks, I can go to o'Reily's and get parts for easily. More or less make a reliable daily driver. I found a few places that talk about Northstars being feesible, and someone mentioned a 3800 SCII, always a good choice. But not a whole lot on how bad the car has to be chopped to make these fit/work.


Anywho, any answers, ideas, or just general information on things to look for or look out for would be appreciated. I'm just getting started on this, and ignorance is my biggest enemy.... And my bank account.

Try PM'ing DeLorean00...seeing as how he owns one, he should be able to answer your questions.

I've worked on a few of them. They are unbelievably slow. The stock Peugeot/Renault engine was way underpowered for such a futuristic car of it's time. The engine block was aluminium and designed in such a way that the lifter valley held water (under the intake manifold) and would corrode the block to a point that it was unusable. The engine also used what is known as "wet sleeves" for cylinders and would commonly corrode out at the critical sealing points...again, leaving the aluminium block unusable.

The wiring was primative, and had issues all of it's own. Parts are still available, but are getting hard to find. The layout is similar to a Fiero, having a rear mounted engine and trans with the trunk up front and the hood in back.

Even with all of it's common problems, I still think it's a very cool car. I mean, it's stainless steel! What's not to love about that?

One of them I worked on had a turbo system added, and was slightly faster than a bone stock DeLorean. The only problem was that the turbo was not sized properly for the engine and you could guage the turbo lag with a sun dial...very bad turbo lag.

Still, a very cool car. Just a few hundred more horsepower and you've got yourself a very sweet ride. If you get one and are looking for a tech to work on it, look me up. We're neighbors.

The DeLorean is also my dream car. The best DeLorean forum is DMC Talk

http://dmctalk.org/forum.php

The thing about the guys on there is, most are great, like here, but there are a BUNCH of elitist assholes, too. Don't mention the 'F' word (Fiero), some DO NOT like the fact there's any GM connection.

DeLoreans have a 'Rule of 20' where basically, you are going to spend $20,000 to get a good car. Spend $5000 on the car, end up putting $15,000 into it, buy a $15,000 car, and it''ll need $5000 of work, etc.

DeLorean Motor Company Houston is the best place for parts

http://www.delorean.com/

They also sell reproduction service manuals, you might want to buy one and read it cover to cover before you think about repairing or modifying one.

The car uses parts from a variety of sources. The underpinnings are VERY similar to that era Lotus Esprit. The weird parts that badly need improvement are the wiring (which is a nightmare crapfest) and the Bosch K-Jetronic mechanical fuel injection system. The 2.8 PRV V6 puts out similar power to our V6 Fieros, with a similar weight car.

The later car you can find, the better the build quality it will be, and the fewer minor bugs it will have.

Only GM swap I'd consider for the DeLorean would be the Northstar.







My understanding with this swap is, they also use a transaxle from a Porsche mated to the Northstar to accomplish this swap.

Heh, I signed up there right before bed last night and left some posts... I've posted 3 times, and mentioned the Fiero every time XD Oh well... At least i'm using it to seperate the differences between it and my other cars, not saying how similar they are, so maybe they'll forgive me :P

Already seems like a very welcoming place, i'm looking forward to finding out more from them.

I had always heard it as the rule of $25k... But, economy chamges demand/prices... Thing i've alwayd wondered about this rule, is if it is including labor... Because if it did, I could save a ton :P

They seem to be of the inclaination it will cost much more to modify for GM stuff, than to rebuild what's stock. Still looking, still learning

nice looking northstar swap. Now the cool thing would be if that motor came from a Cadillac sold at deloran Cadillac. That was a dealership around here till a few years ago.

quote Originally posted by Twilight Fenrir: I can't really find good illustrations on exactly how everything is oriented...

Buy a good quality die-cast model? And i 2nd the idea of PM'ing our resident expert here.

quote Originally posted by Twilight Fenrir: Heh, I signed up there right before bed last night and left some posts... I've posted 3 times, and mentioned the Fiero every time XD Oh well... At least i'm using it to seperate the differences between it and my other cars, not saying how similar they are, so maybe they'll forgive me :P Already seems like a very welcoming place, i'm looking forward to finding out more from them. I had always heard it as the rule of $25k... But, economy chamges demand/prices... Thing i've alwayd wondered about this rule, is if it is including labor... Because if it did, I could save a ton :P They seem to be of the inclaination it will cost much more to modify for GM stuff, than to rebuild what's stock. Still looking, still learning

We never apologize for mentioning the Fiero.

Brad

quote Originally posted by twofatguys: We never apologize for mentioning the Fiero. Brad

I agree. No excuses, no apologies. Love us or don't let the door hit you on the way out.

quote Originally posted by Twilight Fenrir: I'm hoping I can find one that's mechanically thrashed. But still pretty on the outside. I want this car cheep, like... $5K Though, that will never happen, so I'll go up to about $10K. And I want to throw as much GM made mechanics in there as I can. But there's very little information out there for power-train swaps on these cars.

I think you're going to find that you missed the window of opportunity to get a project DeLorean cheap. Well.... they've never been "cheap" per-say, but you can't even find projects now for under $10,000. And even if you do, it's likely going to be one that you'll never get back onto the road.

About ten years ago they started hitting a really low bottom point. I don't know exactly what happened, but you could get non-runners for $7K-$8K if you looked REALLY hard. Prices then steadily rose back up. I'm making an assumption that if there were those that were thinking of selling their DeLorean and whomever actually held onto them probably is breathing a sigh of relief. The prices have gone back up - considerably. And I feel they have surpassed the lowest point they're ever going to go to and from here on out they're going to start steadily rising again in price. The general economy will not have anything to do with these cars getting cheap again. If you don't already own one you're in trouble because the prices are just going to keep steadily rising.

Actually DeLorean00 is in a real good position, and I'm guessing since his namesake is DeLorean and he owns one he'll probably be holding onto it for a while. Indeed though, he's the best one to be able to give you the definitive 4-1-1 on what it takes to own one in relation to owning a Fiero.

Well, I've pretty much slid over to, "Give it another year or two" Can still find DeLoreans at about the 12k mark that are in good enough shape for me, I just gotta save up a little bit to afford one. Something to drive between repairing it, untill it can swing to repairing it between driving it :P I've learned alot about the cars in the last few days, and I plan to keep doing so, untill I'm actually ready to fork over the cash.

I have owned a DeLorean for 12 years. But would I buy another one? No. Dont get me wrong I love my car, its really neat. It gets lots of attention, and people love seeing it on the road. But its also full of little gremlins, I have sorted most of them out. But they can make you go nuts.

Bottom line, they are not much of a drivers car. There is very a limited amount of performance parts out there. If you enjoy going to to shows and staring at you car in the garage, its great. And don't get me wrong I enjoy that very much. But if your a driver and really like a fun to drive car, this isn't it.

When you get ready to buy, send me a PM and I will guide you on what to look for.

The one with 23000 miles in Kileen Texas sold for $13K. Well actually for $13K or best offer so I assume 13k was the most he got for it.

There's another sitting under a shed about 15 miles from me (Coldsprings) Texas with a bunch of flea market crap piled on top of it, but the owner won't even talk about selling it tho it's now been there at least 5 years collecting dust and dirt.

There are several for sale in Texas, but the cheapest one I've seen listed is around $35k, listed on the DMC website--that assembly facility is right up Hiway 59 from me about 25 miles in the opposite direction from Coldsprings in Humble on Eddy Road.

You can buy one of 3 gold plated ones that is for sale in Maryland for $250K, but it'snot one of the original gold ones made in ireland.