DeLorean restoration | Page 2 | FerrariChat

DeLorean restoration

Discussion in 'General Automotive Discussion' started by shmark, Mar 30, 2012.

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  1. ferrariartist

    ferrariartist F1 Rookie

    Feb 21, 2003
    3,564
    East of Toronto
    Full Name:
    Grant Thomas
    Thx again for posting all your progress. Very interesting!

    I can understand painting it white. But the snakeskin stuff.. cant imagine what he was going for there... to each his own.

    Looking good!

    GT
     
  2. Delorean

    Delorean Rookie

    Feb 13, 2006
    43
    Dadizele Belgium
    Full Name:
    Verbrugghe Andy
    What's the VIN-number of this DeLorean?
     
  3. Mr. Francesco

    Mr. Francesco F1 Rookie

    Oct 10, 2010
    4,934
    Full Name:
    Mr. Francesco
    I'm so glad that I stumbled upon this thread. Keep up the good work; I look forward to seeing your progress as well as the end result :)
     
  4. JeremyJon

    JeremyJon F1 Veteran

    Jul 28, 2010
    7,569
    Calgary, Canada
    #29 JeremyJon, Apr 6, 2012
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2012
    very kool! :)

    i'd love to retro-mod one, one day....brushed stainless body, full LS engine, upgraded suspension, big brakes, larger wheels similar to factory style, etc :D
     
  5. INTMD8

    INTMD8 F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Jun 10, 2007
    6,488
    Lake Villa IL
    Nice project! I've always liked these cars. And I agree Garnet, a resto-mod on one of these would be very cool.

    Do you have any pics or info on the regraining process? I need to do the same on the roof of my Brougham.
     
  6. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
    2,968
    Atlanta
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    Mark
    Just a quick update. He's been busy with a '49 Lincoln the past few days (hydraulic windows!) and hasn't been on the DeLorean as much, but he did manage to get the front bumper cover into the blaster to get it cleaned up. Let's just say he wasn't happy with the corn media. He promised me some new pictures over the weekend.

    I don't have many details on the regraining process so I'll get him to chime in, since he's now a member here. From what he told me, it takes the proper tool and is definitely a "by hand" thing to do it right. It takes patience and care.
     
  7. Fan512bbi

    Fan512bbi Two Time F1 World Champ
    BANNED

    Mar 25, 2004
    20,938
    Wales-UK
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    Steve.
    Just came across this thread, great work.
     
  8. ferrariartist

    ferrariartist F1 Rookie

    Feb 21, 2003
    3,564
    East of Toronto
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    Grant Thomas
    I always thought it might. The car came with a sort "Scotchbright regraining pad" and i guess one was to scrub this back in forth to brush out a scuff and regrain the area to match. How one was to keep parallel to the original grain by hand i thought would be next to impossible. If you're off by a few degrees one would end up with a larger mess.

    GT
     
  9. Jedi

    Jedi Moderator
    Moderator Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Mar 18, 2008
    31,529
    Seattle Area
    Full Name:
    Dave
    Great thread... Keep it coming!

    Jedi
     
  10. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
    2,968
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    Mark
    #35 shmark, Apr 10, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Dont believe everything you hear lol. Blast media, from corn to glass bead, bounced off this thing like supermans chest. Heavy sand might have blown a hole through it, so back to the stripper. It was 10 times worse than the stainless, stuck like glue. after that came the sand paper, and lots of it. Did however solve the ppg paint code mystery - an old singlestage formula that doesnt exist anymore. My paint store neighbor happened to sell ppg in the early 80s and we got a great sample. Will be urethane single stage to emulate the original. Lot of inconsistancies on the cars if u look around now from base clear to flat grey. Was a grey laquer single stage with a tiny bit of flake.
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  11. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
    2,968
    Atlanta
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    Mark
    #36 shmark, Apr 10, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  12. Delorean

    Delorean Rookie

    Feb 13, 2006
    43
    Dadizele Belgium
    Full Name:
    Verbrugghe Andy
    What's the VIN-number of this DeLorean?
     
  13. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
    2,968
    Atlanta
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    Mark
    #38 shmark, Apr 10, 2012
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2012
    Sorry, missed your first post. I'll try to get it.

    [edit] It's a late '81 build, but the owner would rather not share the VIN.
     
  14. Delorean

    Delorean Rookie

    Feb 13, 2006
    43
    Dadizele Belgium
    Full Name:
    Verbrugghe Andy
    I've asked, because in the DeLorean community we're trying to locate every DeLorean ever made ; that's why I wanted to know the VIN-number of this white colored DeLorean ... (you could send it through PM if you want)
     
  15. 355dreamer

    355dreamer F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 3, 2006
    10,469
    DC Metro
    Full Name:
    L.C.
    I think this car was on eBay recently.
     
  16. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
    2,968
    Atlanta
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    #41 shmark, Apr 11, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Ok here is the skinny on all the graining questions. While it is true you can achieve excellent results using all the tools I have on the table in varying order, I spent so much time on 2 fenders its just way not worth it, party because our car had been scuffed pretty good with a da prior to painting.

    The closest thing to the real 3 inch vonnegut wheel DMC used 30 years ago is a 2 inch wolfhead wheel from G&P machinery out of Indiana. Expensive but the time is worth a lot more to me - I ordered mine today and it will arrive next week. I will do the next panel with it and a final on the whole car when finished for uniformity. My only beef with all the different flapper wheels is the graining stripes you can see on just about every car out there now. If you look close you can even tell how wide a flapper they had. The scotch brite pad and stainless polish (a lot like cutting oil) from home depot will tone the stripes down, time consuming but worth doing. A special thanks to the piece of refrigerator I got from the scrapyard and the the quarter ass end of urethane off a Nissan I think (both pictured). My poor test dummies have been sanded, painted, cut, blasted, and even had rocks thrown at them. And thanks to the DMC forum guys, found an old blog from a few years ago turned me on to G&P. I dont want to reinvent the wheel, just the vonnegut wheel. Cheers!
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  17. wingfeather

    wingfeather F1 Rookie

    Feb 1, 2007
    3,653
    rock bottom
    Neat little cars for sure, but the owner community is nowhere near as pleasant as Ferrari. I do not miss the "What's your VIN?" thing, or Ed Bernstein.
     
  18. jefffromcanada

    jefffromcanada Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 2, 2006
    1,154
    Alberta
    Coming along nicely, well done. Grey or Black interior? Auto or 5spd?

    I'm just about to bring mine out of winter storage.
     
  19. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
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    It's a 5sp with a grey interior. The carpet is pretty bad due to some water intrusion in the past, but otherwise the interior is really clean. I'll try to get a few more pics around the car.

    Personally I'm really interested in the results of his tests with the different graining techniques. Simple hand work produced the best result, but was a lot more work.
     
  20. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

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    #45 shmark, Apr 21, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  21. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
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    #46 shmark, Apr 21, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    The hood has been stripped and the first pass was made with an air file using 80 grit. The factory grain is 60 grit which we will use on our graining wheel
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  22. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
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    #47 shmark, Apr 21, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    The hood is in really good shape except for this one tiny ding in it. I will use a punch with a piece of rag taped to the end and carefully tap from the other side. If you look carefully at this pic you can see the swirl marks from the da paper still left. I sanded our test dummy piece and made the same marks, then took them out nicely with the new wheel
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  23. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

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    #48 shmark, Apr 21, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    This is the new wheel. it needs to be spun at a lower than normal drill or grinder speed (factory used 1000rpm). an air drill will do nicely
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  24. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
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    #49 shmark, Apr 21, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I masked the back side of the hood just in case - didnt want stripper to get on the underside. 3m makes a new duck tape with no residue. 8 bucks for duct tape sucks but it did great on the outer edge and is much tougher than masking tape when it gets wet
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  25. shmark

    shmark F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
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    #50 shmark, Apr 21, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    The old white overspray will clean up with thinner and then i'll re-glue the weatherstripping which is in really good shape still. Love the gas door cutout still on the back side of the hood of this car. The earlier cars had a door to access fuel filler neck without raising the front hood
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