Better Luggage Lighting
Joe Angell
The luggage compartment light is rather weak, especially considering how much area it is expected to light. I upgrade it with a pair of LED strips. I also had to slightly refurbish the switch.
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DeLorean Repairs, Maintenance and Upgrades
The DeLorean needs routine maintenance and the occasional, more significant refurbishing. Beyond that there are also a number of customizations and upgrades to improve performance, reliability and functionality.
Stuck in Park: Transmission Linkage Bracket
Joe Angell
Just a few days after my MegaSquirt connector came loose and I had to get towed home, the transmission linkage came apart and I had too get towed home. After figuring out how to get the car back into the garage, I installed a new bracket with a 3D printed block nut holder, which has been working just fine since then.
Read MoreStuck at the Store: Building a MegaSquirt Sled
Joe Angell
After getting towed home because I didn’t realize that the MegaSqurit DB38 had come loose (because I didn’t screw it back in), I built a mount to secure both MegaSquirt and the cable without screws.
Read MoreAutomatic Transmission Reseal
Joe Angell
My automatic transmission has been leaking since I did my engine swap, and likely before then. To fix it, I’d have to remove the transmission and reseal it. It’s a big project, and while not trivial, it’s not too horribly difficult if you’re careful. It helped that I didn’t have to delve too far into the transmission, and was able to avoid anything that required special tools.
Read More3D Printed Louver Striker
Joe Angell
The old engine cover striker bar doesn’t fit the louver brace notch on my car for some reason, so I just printed a new one.
Read MoreLED Taillights
Joe Angell
A common upgrade, I put LED tail lights in my car. The third brake light was bulbs were a bit trickier to find, but I eventually got those too.
Read MoreTail Light Terminal Strip
Joe Angell
After years of adding a slew of accessories that tapped into the passenger tail light harness, I went about cleaning that up with a custom 3D printed terminal strip.
Read MoreEngine Bay Lighting
Joe Angell
I’ve had to check the oil or do quick engine fixes at night with poor illumination, and holding my phone up as a flashlight wasn’t working very well as I juggled dipsticks and cleaning rags, so I installed a new set of lights in the engine bay.
Read MoreDigital Speedometer
Joe Angell
Angle drives break after five miles in my DeLorean, so I haven’t had a speedometer in years. Instead I built a clip-on digital one that picks up pulses from a Hall sensor passing by a VSS ring mounted on the rear axle, an Arduino, a 3D printed case and an Adafruit seven segment LED display backpack.
Read MoreMegaSquirt A/C Idle Up Modification
Joe Angell
The A/C compressor can put a lot of load on the engine, which can be an issue when your car has idle stalling problems like mine does. I did a common MegaSquirt II modification to add A/C idle up support to my DeLorean.
Read MoreDoor Strikers and an Oil Change
Joe Angell
Adjusting my door striker pins so that the doors no longer rattled and latched properly was actually pretty easy. The oil change should have also been easy, but a bad oil filter and a lost oil vapor separator hot in the way of that.
Read MoreConverting the A/C from R12 to R134a: Reassembly and Installation
Joe Angell
Putting the new A/C system, fixing the problems with it, and filling it up. Finally I have cold A/C again.
Read MoreConverting the A/C from R12 to R134a: Parts and Disassembly
Joe Angell
My old R12 system is very likely completely original, but after 35 years or so it developed an unknown leak, most likely at the evaporator. Since I had a new engine that required a new compressor, this seemed like a good time to replace the entire system and convert to R134a. Step one: getting the old system out.
Read MoreYet More Issues: Alternator, Water Pump, Fuel Pump, Sway Bar and Coolant Temperature
Joe Angell
A bunch of parts all failed within about a week and a half, and all had to be fixed. I got most of them figured out, at least.
Read MoreExhaust Noise, Transmission Leaks, Spark Plugs, IAC Adjustment, and Blower Motor Replacement
Joe Angell
I did another once-over of the car and found a few more issues that needed to be addressed: a failed blower motor, a confused coolant temperature gauge, more exhaust noise, more tuning, and more transmission leaks.
Read MoreCoolant Gauge, Fuel Light, Bad Wiring, Power Inverter and Battery Tender
Joe Angell
This time I had a few electrical issues to deal with, and some small updates to make.
Read MoreDeLorean UK's Big Brakes
Joe Angell
Upgrading from the stock brakes to DeLorean UK’s Big Brake System.
Read MoreA Few Weeks of Driving, Small Issues To Fix
Joe Angell
A few weeks of driving revealed a variety of small issues, and a massive coolant leak that required a tow to repair.
Read MoreTunerStudio Settings and Tables
Joe Angell
This post is the rough sequence that I used to get the car idling with TunerStudio, and then getting it driving. Something like this would have helped me a lot when I was trying to figure this out myself.
Read MoreFixing First Drive Issues
Joe Angell
My first drive uncovered a few issues — stalling on acceleration and deceleration, excessive exhaust noise, bad brakes, TPS issues, a broken key, a squeaky belt, trouble starting in Park, a broken oil pressure gauge sender, fixing closed loop idle, replacing a leaking fuel line, fabricating a bracket for the oil dipstick tube, and running out of gas. Here I get all of those fixed, and finally bring the car home.
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