Base motor + transmission go in for the final time

All of the transmission and clutch modifications are now complete so the whole schebang is going into the car for the final time. Now, all that space everywhere is of course going to be filled with intercooler, turbocharger, custom intake and exhaust manifold, fuel injection etc, so lots more to come of course!


Right side (note the finished motor mounts)



Left side

 

Starter, pilot bearing, slave cylinder fitment

Parts are starting to come back from the machine shop. It's great to see how the custom pieces are coming together. Here is a picture of the pilot bearing adapter that is going to support the input shaft (with bearings too of course) and the spacer for the starter:

Pilot bearing to the left, starter spacer on the right

Here is a view of the starter motor installed with the spacers in place. Looks like a perfect fit:

Starter with spacer



 The custom flywheel is installed ....:

Flywheel fitted

A close-up of the pilot bearing adapter with bearings pressed in, as it peeks through the flywheel: 

Pilot bearing adapter with bearings, installation completed

And here is what it looks like with the input shaft and the complete clutch installed:

Input shaft and complete clutch assembly - some top notch engineering there!

The new SpecialTAuto clutch slave cylinder had to be set back using a couple of spacers in order to clear the motor. No problem, but that also meant that the geometry for the clutch fork had to be re-worked in order to achieve the correct fulcrum. I don't have a picture of the latter, per se, but Ed is telling me that it worked out great, so the stroke and the feel of the clutch is going to be just right.

New slave cylinder with stand-offs and (original) clutch pipe installed.



I can't tell you all how pleased I am with this project to this point! Ed and SEO Motorsports are not cutting any corners, all details are addressed - always with my satisfaction and the car's performance in mind.


New clutch, upgraded shaft coupler is installed

The complete clutch package including pressure plate, throw out bearing etc. come from Nissan 350Z. Nice to know that stock parts are available when that day comes. I am very pleased with how it turned out:


Engine, adapter plate (starter mount has yet to be machined) and the complete clutch fitted

Throw out bearing and stock Delorean clutch fork (in black)

Sourcing the upgraded shaft coupler turned out to be quite the chore. None of the usual Delorean vendors were able to provide it so we turned to "crowd sourcing", i.e. the Delorean community. Turns out, there was a huge demand for these couplers and a lot of owners joined in on the order. Read all about it here. Here is a picture showing the transmission with the heavy duty shaft coupler installed (circled):

Heavy duty coupler in place. Tranny ready for high power!

VR6 first fitment

Being that this is a customer build, some things such as sizing up the engine mounts to get the entire drivetrain in the exact location can only be done using actual mearurements, so the as-is transmission and brand new adapter were mounted (no clutch) to the engine and then the entire package was "floated" into its exact, correct x-y-z location in the engine bay using the transmission mounting points as the basic reference:

Right side

Left side

"#1283: Meet your new VR6"

Perfect fit

At this point, Ed tack welded the engine mounts together and once he was confident everything lined up as it should they were finished off and sent out for powder coating:



Right side engine mount

Left side engine mount

New engine mounting points

The ideal VR6 engine mounting points happen to be located exactly where the stock tow hooks are so they were lopped off:


Stock tow hooks removed

... and new ones were welded on:

Then the entire engine bay was painted with oil based Rustoleum paint:


New engine anchoring points in place and engine bay looking good!

I've had very good results with grey POR-15 but, as Ed pointed out, while that may be ideal on rough and corroded surfaces, it may not be intended for overcoating an existing layer of smooth paint. This happens to be Rustoleum's strong point, so why risk it? Rustoleum it is. Good call, Ed!

The donor engine

Ed has found the VR6 engine we are going to use as the base for this project: It came out of a 2002 Jetta that he found in Canada(!). He says it is in pristine condition and I certainly agree just looking at these pictures:

Here is a bunch of of pictures showing the varying stages of assembly. Basically, Ed tore down the engine, did a thorough inspection and cleaning. Then he installed a new oil pan [early model "AAA" style pan that provides more clearance with the frame), timing chains, timing chain rails and tensioner. New front and rear seals were also installed and the block was cleaned and painted black.

The cylinder head was completely disassembled, cleaned and reassembled with the new high strenght bolts from ARP. A thicker stainless steel head gasket spacer was purchased from urotuning and installed to get the compression down to a 9:1 ratio in preparation for the forced induction. Ed explained that you actually have to slice an OEM head gasket open and then sandwich the spacer in between. 



Back together again

The new adapter plate fits like a glove:

Adapterplate fitted onto the new engine

First update from SEO Motorsports

While I have been getting my car ready for shipping, Ed @ SEO Motorsports in Florida has been designing parts and had them machined. The first part is the adapter plate that will allow the Delorean transmission to bolt up to the VR6 engine:

Adapter plate being machined
 



Very nice, huh?


The aluminum flywheel comes from a Nissan 350Z. Its wear surfaces are replaceable and redesigned and modified to match up properly with the clutch:

Flywheel completed

Next up, the clutch: We're using a stock Delorean clutch with the wear surfaces removed and replaced with high performance kevlar d:o to be able to handle the increased torque and higher temperatures. You know... racing grade stuff:


High performance clutch