Parts prepping

Transmission:
First off I sandblasted the transmission with walnut shells just to get the grime and muck off of it. It turned out pretty good:

Ed recommended that I don't paint or powder coat it to keep heat transfer at its maximum.

Output nuts re-torque:
A common issue on the manual transmission is either of the two output nuts backing off and grenading. So to make sure I'm covered I removed the transmission's rear cover and retorqued both of them (using a very nice loaner torque wrench from O'Riley's Auto) to spec and staked the nuts into place. I also applied transmission grade Loctite:

Heavy duty shaft coupler:
Later on, SEO will split the gearbox open and add a heavy duty shaft coupler and roll pin for all that torque:

"Bullet proof shaft coupler", courtesy of DMCNW

Luckily, Ed will not need to undo the output nuts I have just secured.

Pedal box assembly:
Next I tackled the pedal box assembly: After straightening it, sanding/painting, lubing it and installing all new miscellaneous hardware and springs, it looked and worked like brand new.

The springs were a challenge to get in place given that the pedals are pre-tensioned. (Come to think of it, replacing pedal springs must be impossible with the pedal box installed in the car, so if you have it out I would recommend to anyone that they also replace the springs to avoid a mess later. (Removing the pedal box is not a small job, btw!))

Parts plating:
Apart from degreasing and painting everything, a large part of the components were shipped to Dave and Julee at Delorean MidWest (DMCMW) for plating. A few years back I had also "fake"-painted some components to look like they were plated but over time it started looking tacky. I pulled those parts off of the stock motor and added them to the batch thinking that someday, somehow someone might appreciate that:




Before plating

After plating

just LOOK at that....

DMCMW is well known in the D community for being fast, customer oriented, friendly whie providing good pricing and top quality and this time was no different.



A closer look

Here is how everything looked before it was shipped to me (gulp)...:

... but a closer inspection told me that everything that really matters was actually in very good condition (sigh of relief).

Here is a picture of a bent crossgate bracket. Not good, but readily available from DMCH:

 

The pedal box needs some work: Links, clips and rubbers are missing. Some of the springs are broken but between the seller, DMC and McMaster Carr there shouldn't be a problem rebuilding it:

The tranny stuff has arrived!

The manual transmission stuff has arrived!

...but, my goodness, was the packing poor or what! The tranny had more or less been dropped into a cardboard box in which it rolled around and bent all sorts of brackets. The fact that it didn't fall off the pallet was pure luck!

Knowing very well that much of this will need attention to bring it up to par, here is my basic plan of action:

• Clean, degrease and inspect everything
• Take inventory
• Remind the seller of the stuff he missed
• Purchase missing stuff from DMCH or other sources for the stuff he simply didn't have
• Shotblast, paint or plate
• Re-torque/stake the large nuts on the transmission's input shafts

Sourcing manual transmission parts

Before I even think about handing over the car to SEO, I need to prep it, and the first (and biggest) thing is to convert to manual transmission - "stick shift".

The pursuit of the manual tranny stuff actually started over a year ago, in July 2013, when a fellow D owner in Florida had purchased a wrecked Delorean that he was planning to part out. Sometime last fall I started getting serious about committing to this projectso when he asked if I needed anything I went for it and sent him a parts list and a check for the full amount. qoo% up front to a compelte stranger - that's how many of us like to do business in the D community. Well, so much for that. 4-5 months passed and after no action and endless number of reminders I had finally had it, so I demnaded a refund. The good news was that I got my money back. The bad news was that my engine upgrade project was dead in the water. (This is where a reality show would cut to commercial.)

Shortly thereafter, in April 2014, another D owner with a parts car cropped up; this time from San Diego, CA. The car itself was VIN #712, born in April 1981, just a month before mine. ACcording to the seller, the car had been in good condition with 23K miles on it and had spent all of its life in California (he has actually found soem paper work showing that it had been owned by Hughes Aircraft at some point). Never been wrecked, just in need of an iverhaul. And as often happens when there is a second car, one car gets a new lease on life at the expense of the other; well #713 got the short end of the stick according to the seller, and was therefore aprted out. My gain.

Here is what I needed:

• Manual transmission (duh!)
• Complete pedal box assembly with three pedals
• Shifter
• Shifter linkage
• Cluch fluid reservoir
• Clutch master cylinder
• Cluch slave cylinder
• Clutch (hydraulic) line
• Cluch fork
• Clutch kit, i.e. pressure plate, clutch disk, throw-out bearing, pilot bearing
• Transmission mounting brackets
• Hardware for all of the above

Now some of the above are clearly "consumables" and much of it will be redesigned by SEO from scratch but, hey, wouldn't hurt to have it! (I have a detailed list if anyone is interested.) The price for the above was reasonable so I jumped on it! So here I am, waiting for my man in CA to remove and ship the stuff.

What will it be? A crate-full of great parts or junk? Drumroll, please!

And so the journey begins

At the time of this writing, I have pretty much done a once over of all current and potential engine suppliers. Actually, there are 5-6 of them that are highly competent and proven but given my objectives and constraints, none of them were perfect for me, except one: SEO Motorsports in Melbourne, Florida. SEO's owner Ed Ghesquiere is well known in the D community and his forte over the years has been building killer VR6-based engines for the Nissan community, primarily for 350Zs. The VR6 can be found on various Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche platforms and as tuners across the globe has found out, it's the ideal base for an high output motor. Reasons why include:

• It is readily available
• It is bullet proof. ("It loves boost", like Ed likes to put it) because:
• it has a cast-iron block
• it uses seven main bearings as opposed to more commonplace four for V6s
• although narrow-angle (15 deg), the V6 layout makes it very compact, yet
• the even firing order makes it smooth as an in-line 6

How stout is this thing? Well, there are a multitude of clips of crazy horsepower cars on youtube. 1000 HP is not unheard of. Here is just one of many examples. Nuts! OK.... a third of that rage will be more than plenty for my objectives.  

Ed, a former Delorean owner himself, has indeed waived his magic VR6 wand over at least one other Delorean as well. Read all about Jeremiah's VR6 conversion right here. First start-up, right here. Now, that project involved keeping the stock auto transmission so the torque was dialled way back. And - very important - Jeremiah has nothing but praise about SEO's expertise, workmanship and professionalism.

The choice is obvious: SEO Motorsports is my engine builder of choice!

So what do I want get done on my car?

Here is the high-level scope that Ed and I have agreed to:

• Engine:
• Custom build, VW VR6 based
• SEO will source a good, lower mileage donor motor, rebuild the head, replace all seals, gaskets, timing chains and rails with new d:o. Replace stock head studs with high strength d:o. Custom, reusable turbo head gasket spacer to get the correct compression ratio
• Targeted Power and torque:
• 350 whp/350 wftlb
• Flywheel/Clutch:
• Delorean clutch with high performance wear surfaces
• Custom flywheel, Nissan 350Z based
• Pressure plate/throw-out bearing, Nissan 350Z
• Adapter to mount stock bell housing to engine:
• Custom
• Transmission:
• Install upgraded shaft coupler
• Turbo charger:
• Garrett based and sized specifically for targeted power/torque
• Intercooler
• Fuel injection:
• Electronic, MegaSqirt III, fully customizable mapping profiles
• Exhaust system:
• Combination of ceramic cotaed mils steel tubing and stainless mufflers and CAT
• Software Tuner Studio Basic for tuning via laptop
• Other
• Three dyno runs
• High strength head studs from ARP
• Wideband sensor for optimal air/fuel ratio tuning
• Boost gauge from VDO
• New skidplate (stainless steel)

I will install on the car before I ship it to SEO:

• High-efficiency radiator
• Pedal box for manual transmission
• Clutch master/slave cylinder with all the lines, reservoir, hardware etc
• Shifter + mechanism

So, if all goes as planned, the engine bay will go from looking like this:

To something like this:

Pretty straightforward, right?

It's pretty and all but...

Welcome to my blog!
I have owned my Delorean #1283 since 2005, a 1981 auto, and after ten years of ownership it seems I’ve touched every nut, bolt and washer of this car in order to make it better. All the hard work surely has paid off based on the curiosity and “oohs and “aaahs” that every car show has brought.

#1283 at the Collin County Community College "Back To The Future" 30 year celebration

The car looks good, handles and works well but over the years the get-up-and-go part of it has become a sore point. I don’t know how many times I’ve been beat by SUVs and minivans at the red lights – and the other driver didn’t even realize we were racing! Enough is enough. A car with high performance looks needs a high performance power plant so the research began well over a year ago: Where and how can I get more power? I started a short list of requirements:

Engine swap:

• A modern engine utilizing today’s technology. Even though the stock V6 PRV motor's claim to fame includes the engine that powered the fastest Le Mans car ever - still, it's gotta go.
• HP and torque in the 300+ range.
• Reasonable cost
• A company that is located in the US and has prior experience.

Convert to manual transmission:

• Converting to manual transmission will be required for two reasons:
• The current auto transmission cannot handle the additional torque (I will also need to add the upgraded input shaft) and
• With that much power and sportiness, the manual transmission just makes more sense

Other things I plan to do myself:

• Upgrade to ventilated, multi-piston brakes
• Overhaul the suspension, new bushings etc. The car already has the lowered Eibach setup

My goal is to create a car that has the performance, handling and endurance. So, I hope you join me in the transformation of my all-looks Delorean to an all-business barn stormer!