Car prepping - shifter

Installing the manual shifter mechanism was a little messier than expected. As mentioned somewhere else, the auto shift mechanism is:

• taller, so as a result, it sits lower in the recess and
• uses a smaller "hole" below its footprint

So locating the manual shifter mechanism to the correct x-y-z position requires it to be raised by 2"/50 mm, and the foot print cavity enlarged (because the auto shifter only moves forward/aft whereas the manual shifter also moves side ways) .

The shifter mechanism was in relatively good shape; it only needed a quick sand blast to get the old crud off: (Pic)

I then ordered:

• Stainless gear change lever from Delorean Industries
• Shift Boot and stainless frame from PJ Grady, and
• Metal shifter knob from DMC, Houston.

Installing the new SS shifter required a disassembly of the shifter mechanism. Pounding/pressing out the main pin was fairly easy:


Pin is pressed out half way

Some have done this with it assembled but it seems very difficult to get to the E-clip underneath. The SS shifter did not come with any other hardware, so once I had installed it along with the spring and E-clip I noticed that the shifter was catching while moving it up and down (like, when you lift it to put it in reverse) and I found that the E-clip was rubbing on the ID of the shifter barrel. Weird! So, I took out the Dremel and grinded the OD of the E-clip from the original 12.9 mm to 12.6 mm. This took care of the problem. After checking with Josh at DPI I learned that the SS shifter is supposed to come with a SS E-clip that has a slightly smaller OD. By that time I had already pressed in the pin so I'm gonna assume that the modified E-clip will work just fine

 

The roll pin that acts as the reverse lock-out looked bent ands beat up...:

Reverse lock-out pin

 ... so it was replaced with PN 98296A912 from McMaster Carr.

And here I totally got immersed in fitting the adapter plate, including the four stand-offs, to the frame to try to make it move freely without interference. Install, find where it was rubbing, remove and modify. Over and over again. I totally forgot about taking pictures.

As the hole in the frame was getting bigger and the adapter frame continuously hogged out I was getting more and more frustrated but it finally came together:


Manual shifter installed

In this picture you can see the Dynamat clad cavity with the hole through which the shifter pokes through. This hole had to be cut open quite a bit towards the driver's side. Then, on top of that the adapter plate (heavily modified) bolted to the frame, then the four 30 mm stand-offs and finally the shifter on top of that. It is all held together with 50 mm M6 bolts shaved to about 47 mm length. Sounds messy? Yes, it was. 
  
Looking back, the simplest way of achieving this would have been to follow Nicholas Roedl's advise and simply mount two modified 2 x 2" angle irons to get the shifter into the correct location - read all about it here - but not knowing anything different I had already opted for Martin G's adapter plate, ref (earlier log) a few months prior.

Above you can also see the new roll-pin, the stainless gear lever and in the top right corner you can also see the cross gate cable attached. Yes, a hole had to be cut thru the frame for that too, but that wasn't too big a deal. It's all framed top and bottom by the supply/return fuel lines.

But all was forgiven in the end. The shifter was clicking from gear to gear with ease and they clicked into gear with the sound like  a .... Never mind that there is no gearbox (yet). It looks marvellous:


Auto shifter

Manual shifter



Car prepping - pedals and clutch

Other than the obvious two vs. three pedals, the pedal box for manual transmission is different than that of a auto d:o. First of all, the auto pedal box does not have the thru hole for the clutch where the pedal connects to the master cylinder. This could be bored/drill fairly easily I would think, but the big difference is that the manual pedal box has additional bracketry to accomodate the additional pedal. For this reason the entire pedal box has to be switched out. This is no big deal either if you don't mind tearing down half the dash and removing the steering column etc, all the while contorting your body into an impossibly small space in a hot garage (Texas in early summer). Seriously, I'm not sure it would be even possible to re-configure the pedal box while still installed in the car given that there are snap-rings to access, shafts to remove/install and - as was the case for me - broken pedal return springs to replace.



Auto pedal box (steering shaft on the left)

Auto pedal box, instrument cluster, steering column etc.removed

This was also a good opportunity to clear up some dormant wiring for a car alarm from pre-2005. The trickiest part of the disassembly was probably to get the splined steering shaft to slide off of the steering U-joint assembly. You can't get in there with a hammer to tap on it but after some scrouging around in my attic I came across an L-shaped tool for installing hardwood flooring, which worked great as an adapter.


Manual pedal box in place

The manual pedal box was overhauled with a fresh coat of paint, as well as new linkages, clevises, springs and pedal rubbers installed; the shafts were also cleaned and greased. Wow - the pedals look and work like new! Finally, a new steering column bushing was purchased from PJ Grady and installed. (Hopefully that will alleviate the steering "moan" that's been plaguing #1283 all these years...)

On the other side of the firewall, I sealed the thru hole and installed the master clutch cylinder as well as the clutch reservoir (forgot to take pics!).

Finally, I reinstalled the steering column and then of course, the instrument cluster, knee bolsters, steering wheel, carpeting and driver's seat.

Car prepping - engine/transmission removal

Engine/auto transmission removal:
After living in harmony for 34 years it's time for the car and engine+tranny to say goodbye to each other. Yes, I spent some good money and a countless amount of labor to bring the stock engine up to close to perfect condition a few years ago. Everything that was not in tip-top shape was fixed, replaced, upgraded or improved. Well, one might say it was all for nothing but, hey, I achieved my goal and was very pleased with the results. I am not planning on ever selling the engine or auto transmission and even though it is very unlikely to ever be reinstalled in 1283 again, there is a certain value to keeping the matching numbers together.


A last view of the stock motor installed
 



Rear fascia removed

Although I wouldn't recommend it, furniture dollies worked pretty well
for moving the car around in the garage

... that's all there is to it

Not much left

Car prepping - upgraded radiator

Upgraded radiator install:
The high performance, aluminum radiator went in with some trouble but once it was in, it fit like a glove. The only thing I regretted was that I did not remove the A/C condenser. Yes, the "norm" is to leave the condenser in place while doing this but then you're also guaranteed to bash in the highly sensitive alumunim radiator fins in the process. The new motor comes with an entirely different compressor, so since Ed is going to crack the A/C system open anyway, I should have just done this with the condenser removed. Oh well, the damage was minimal.

Stock radiator to the left, new one to the right. Note the condenser (detached but with hoses still connected) 

New radiator and fans

All done. Very nice fit once I got it all in place.

A last couple of outings

Ed is a little backed up with on-going projects so the plan is to have the car ready to ship end of April, so I took the car to a couple of events before the stock motor is retired:

North Texas Irish Festival:
To me, me and my friends in the little Dallas group, our annual outings at the North Texas Irish Festival in early March is typicallly the highlight of the year as far as Delorean get-togethers and we get pretty good promotion - even a dedicated webpage. The Irish like so many others, love the Deloreans; most aren't even aware why we're there, until they learn that they were built in Belfast, Northern Ireland! People are incredibly friendly but where there's liquor there's trouble so you have to be on the look-out for beer spills as they lean into the cars. Very common.


Video Bob (left) and Dash (center) answering Qs about flux capacitors and how you clean the stainless and such

Cars & Coffee:


#1283 on C&C's website!

Packed, as always, but what a great venue! Car enthusiasts are everywhere and this is where they come together, once a month under no pretenses. This time I was thinking to get a good parking spot so I got there at 6:30 - I still had a hard time finding a place to park!


Here I have stepped away to get a break from all of the questions

It always strikes me how much people "know" about the history of the Delorean.But, no doubt, this marque has a special place in peoples hearts (very much, of course, due to the Back To The Future craze); everyone just love to look at and talk about Deloreans.

Once I got home and parked in the garage, the stock engine - #1163 - was shut off for the last time. The prep process to convert to stick shift started immediately thereafter.

Shifter adapter, upgraded radiator

Adapter plate:
I have learned that the mounting hole pattern and x-y-z location of the auto shifter is entirely different than that of the manual shifter. Also, some sheet metal cutting in the cavity where the shifter goes will be needed as well.

Turns out Martin Gutkowski in the UK offers a very good looking aluminum adapter plate that locates the shifter to the correct position and height, so I purchased a CAD copy of his design:


 DMCUK shifter adapter plate

The 12 stand-offs are meant to be cut in the same swoop as the plate and stacked three high in each corner in order to raise it 3 x 10 mm = 30 mm. The concept of stacking multiple stand-offs seemed a littly wiggly to me so I opted for purchasing them separately as one-piece 30 mm pieces from McMaster Carr instead. I e-mailed the file to Ed's machinist in Florida and here is how it turned out:

Adapter plate from Decker Machine

Very nice!

 

Now, this does not alleviate the need to cut into the frame but I'll deal with that later when it's time to install it.

 

Upgraded radiator:
The high output engine is going to require more heat rejection, especially here in Texas. I have looked around for a high performance radiator and the best alternative seems to be the radiator offered by Ed Uding at DMC Europe. This aluminum radiator can be found here and was highly recommend to me by another Delorean that had swapped in an LS1 engine.

Bye bye manual transmission

All of the manual transmission equipment has now been cleaned, repaired, straightened, cleaned, painted or plated and is looking and working great, so it's time to ship all of it to SEO Motorsports:



All of it
(the clutch will only be used for fitment purposes)

A close-up



It's a wrap...!
 

... and it's outta here!

Ed is pretty backed up with a couple of Delorean projects ahead of me so it will probably sit in the corner of his facility for a while. From my point of view though, this represents an important milestone that will allow me to focus more on the getting my car ready.