DCS 2014 - Dayton Ohio

So DeLorean Car Show 2014 happened, and I've been too much of a giant slacking ziphead to post about it. And now there's no point because my buddy Manson has already done a super bang-up job of that over here.

Oh, what the hell. Here's my condensed (IE more pathetic) version.

Dayton Ohio's DCS 2014 featured a record 159 DeLoreans. This was Ken Koncelik's final show, and he went out with a bang: Bob Gale, Claudia Wells, Don Fullilove, Jeffrey Weissman, Harry Waters Jr, and Christopher Lloyd all attended.

Jordan Livingston continued shooting footage for his movie, Nick Sutton signed copies of his book and that guy who designed the Hot Wheels DeLorean (in his spare time) gave a presentation. A huge hit was Fairfield High School performing an astonishing Back to the Future musical for us, after which Harry Waters Jr. (Marvin Berry) performed Earth Angel. I cried. I mean clapped. I clapped. I applauded.

Under colossal tents our cars were corralled, to be judged by a thorough team of five. Prior to Saturday's judging, Chris Lloyd strolled through the tented area signing autographs, meeting old friends, and drawing on his own neck with a Sharpie. For a 3rd time he posed for a photo with me, and for a 3rd time he just stood there like a cardboard cutout.

I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a loser.

Prototype 1 was there, for sale. It was offered to my friend Tom for $180,000, but he declined. Nobody offered it to me; I don't know why. (Incidentally, packing up my DeLorean Saturday night I overheard Jason Sharkey say it had sold, but I did not hear the name of the potential buyer. Leave me alone, I was tired.)

Out front Rich W. parked his 6-door DeLorean Limo alongside D-Rex and a kick-ass, screen-accurate Ecto-1. Some of the wonderment under the tents included an automated Tellus carrier from the DMC factory floor, Cliff Schmucker's gorgeous stainless chassis, and a mega-rare motorized DeLorean pedal car.

Despite all this awesome junk (including hover conversions!), there was a whole pile of stuff I missed. I spent far too much time cleaning and worrying about my DeLorean. It paid off for me, but I do regret not spending more time just hanging out with friends.

Original Goodyear NCT Tires

The high road. The low road. The road not taken. Where we're going, we don't need roads. Ah so many road quotes... but how about the risky road?

Today was Christmas. Well, for a totally spazzed out nerd like me anyway. You see, today I scored myself a set of Goodyear NCT HR60 tires. They're old, they haven't been available in 30 years, and they're probably dangerous. YA!

I just happened to be in the right place at the right time as my buddy Ken packs up his house for a move. And, since it's easier to give things away than to move them, I ended up with a nice looking set of NCTs.

When I got them home I inspected them and cleaned them. What I found was kind of surprising. Decent tread, and virtually no crack to be found anywhere! Nope, these tires were no Mayor Rob Ford.

I've read many opinions regarding the NCTs. And they are generally not good. Strapping a bunch of hot dogs to your rims get better reviews than NCTs. After all, even Goodyear discontinued them after a short time due to poor design. No, people don't particularly like the NCTs and most think driving on a 30 year old tire is dangerous.

I don't see the big deal. I currently drive on 26 year old tires. And, no, I'm not a Sunday driver - I push them pretty hard. However, I check them carefully every time I drive. And with the NCTs, I plan to be extremely careful. In fact, with a second set of wheels, I plan to mount the NCTs only for DCS 2014 in Ohio.

That's plan A anyway. But if I decide I don't like them, I will resort to plan B. Plan B is to drive to Ohio on 26 year old tires. Ya, I guess I'm taking the risky road either way.

A DeLorean-Powered Fridge

This past weekend a tremendous storm caused a colossal power failure in my city. We were without power for almost 3 full days as two transformers exploded and electrical lines caught fire just a street away.

But I was prepared for the zombie apocalypse with my 2000 watt inverter.

Our hydro company, a bunch of douchebags, refused to even acknowledge that our neighbourhood was powerless. A day passed and still no trucks and no information available. Not knowing when power would return, furious neighbours stormed the grocery stores with pitchforks and bought up all the ice supplies.

As they returned home some of the curious ones asked me why my garage was open, and why my DeLorean was running. The answer?

I splurged on a garage door opener with a battery backup - and my 32 year old DeLorean was powering my fridge. Pretty ironic if you know the original BTTF Time Machine was supposed to be a fridge.

Most people use inverters for... well... I really don't know. Comfort camping? Doing karaoke on the way to work? Building birdhouses with power tools inside minivans in remote areas? Anyway, the inverter allowed me to plug in my fridge for quite some time. I simply ran the extension cord through the garage door, into the house and around the corner to the fridge.

It was a hot day, and the DeLorean idling in the garage quickly raised the temperature to 32C - but my Toby fans ran strong. Everything was looking good, and envious neighbours said "Wow" a lot.

In the end however, the inverter gave out. Apparently a 520 watt fridge is too much for a self-proclaimed "Heavy Duty" 2000 watt inverter to handle. Thanks, Motomaster!

But soon hydro was restored. I suppose in an alternate 1985 we would've had to throw out the entire contents of the fridge. But as it turns out we only lost some frozen bread, shrimp, corn and bananas. And I don't mind. Because I certainly wasn't about to make a shrimp/corn/banana sandwich.

DPI Does Canada

Under threat of thunderstorms I drove the DeLorean to a shop in Oakville where Josh Bengston, owner of DeLorean Performance Industries, was paying our club a visit. It was a long time in the making, but we were finally able to reap the benefits of Josh's expertise.

Approximately 17 DeLoreans showed up for Tech Day 2013 in the Great White North. Josh, a champion of high performance parts for our 30 year old cars, inspected each one and made a list of necessary repairs. The worst was not unexpected; a pair of rotted out frames; Holes, bendy metal, the whole 9 yards.

After a couple of hours of enjoying everyone's company and unusual drinking habits, it was my turn for one of the hoists. I turned the key. My reward? A loud POP! After 20 minutes of complete frustration we pushed my car into the bay. Disheartened by the chance that I'd be towed home, the investigation began.

Under Josh's direction I removed the air cleaner and immediately discovered the problem. And it was pretty shocking. Care to wager a guess? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Injector #2 had blown right out of the engine! Josh had a quick look, bent the clip back and reinserted the irksome injector. The car started instantly. Problem solved!

Up in the air, Josh quickly replaced my torn ball joint boot, leaving me loads of time to clean my frame. It seems stupid, but I'm proud of that part of my car which no one can see. With 115,000 miles, it should be a mess. Instead, well, have a look for yourself. Here. And here. And also here.

At the end of the day, the only thing we wanted more than a shower was dinner. The tradition continued as we treated Josh to some good ol' fashioned poutine. Aside from the usual crowds around our cars (and, strangely, around our table) it was nothing but good times.

Shave Your DeLorean Eyebrows!

Although the DeLorean's stainless facade allows it to withstand the elements for 115 to 117 years, there is one thing that can make the 80's icon look atrocious.

Eyebrows.

In the DeLorean world, "eyebrows" are what we call the warping of the front fascia above the headlights. When the fascia rises over the high beams, it replaces the strong, confident look of the car with a comically worried one.

I don't know if there has ever been 100% consensus on the cause, but it is generally accepted that the sun is the culprit. My car is a good argument for that theory. The original owner had two homes - one in California, the other in Arizona. He spent years driving back and forth in the blazing desert sun between the two, rocking out to A-ha.

Over the years my eyebrows worsened until, in 2010, I had had enough. The solution: steel bars. I bought two, each 1/8 inch thick, approximately 1 inch wide, and 15 inches long. To adhere the bar to the underside of the fascia, I bought a tube of SikaTack-Drive windshield glue from Speedy Autoglass for around $27. It is fully cured in only 2 hours. (The Speedy employee told me to work FAST, as I would only have about 5 seconds of fiddling time if I didn't set the bars right.)

My stick-arms trembled as the front grille resisted my attempts to remove it. When it popped off, I then removed all four headlights followed by the headlight mounts. This gives access to the fascia.

SikaTack-Drive windshield glue is horrible stuff. Scaaaary horrible. Its tar-like properties allow it to adhere to anything, including air molecules. It must be heated up an incredible amount before you can use it. I placed it on my engine and ran the car. During this time I used my heat gun to warm up the top and underside of the fascia until it was pliable.

After nearly an hour, I put the tube of warm SikaTack- Drive in my caulking gun. With great difficulty I managed to apply it to one side of the steel bar. I then slid the bar inside the fascia and clamped it down (or "up" rather) using a piece of wood to protect the paint.

I repeated this on the other side and left it clamped for the afternoon.

Six hours later I removed the clamps. Instantly I watched the fascia strain against the steel bars as it tried to pull itself back into its warped state. The steel bars actually bent! At first I threw a temper-tantrum. However, considering how bad my eyebrows were, the result was actually good. My driver's side eyebrow was diminished by about 90% while my passenger side looks about 95%. And for now, it's better than forking out a grand for one of these.

Hypermiling in a DeLorean

In 1981 the EPA rated the DeLorean's fuel economy at 19 and 21 mpg. Pretty fair for the time, remembering J.Z.D. chose taller gear ratios for good mileage. But can the DeLorean do better?

I recently returned from DMC Midwest where I drove over 500 miles in my DeLorean. On the return trip I recorded my mileage twice to make a comparison. The car was loaded with both myself and my dad at a combined 280 lbs, as well as approximately 150 lbs of luggage, miscellaneous spare parts, and scotch.

The first half of the drive was pissmeoff stop & go rush-hour traffic in the Chicago Loop. Not good. But perfect for a fair "mixed driving" test. The second half of that drive I was on the freeway doing a constant 70 mph.

Roughly 3 hours later I pulled off to eat and fill up as well. I had covered 155 miles and paid for 6.875 gallons at a Marathon station.

For the next test I decided to drive a constant 75 mph. If the car performed well at this high speed, I would be impressed. A few hours and 259 miles later I filled up at Hess. This time the tank held 9.338 gallons.

So what were the results?

The first drive generated a surprise. 22.54 U.S. mpg. What? 22 mpg in stop-and-go traffic? Wow. I just hypermiled my DeLorean. But could my numbers be even higher? The second drive was clearly better despite driving at a higher speed and rpm. I did the math and achieved 27.74 U.S. mpg. A far cry from my Insight, but a pretty incredible number nonetheless!

Curiosity! What will I get at 62 mph (100 kph)?
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Here's the math:
155 miles divided by 6.875 gallons = 22.54 mpg = 10.43 L/100 km
259 miles divided by 9.338 gallons = 27.74 mpg = 8.48 L/100 km

Gullwing Grief - Hairdryer to the Rescue

People are undeniably seduced by gullwing doors, whether they're on a lowly DeLorean or the supreme Mercedes SLS.

DeLorean doors, powered by a Grumman-aerospace torsion bar plus a strut, want to rise upward by nature. The only thing holding them down are the latches. And my latches are worn out. In the cold they don't catch and the doors launch upward.

Since I can't drive the car in the cold specifically because of this problem, I decided to have DMC Midwest replace my latches. I made all the arrangements, ordered parts, booked hotels and even plane flights.

But the ONE day I have to drive to Crystal Lake, Illinois is a terribly cold day sandwiched between all the nice the weather. And the main reason I'm going, ironically, is so the Swingles can replace my latches that don't work in the cold! This means that on my nine hour drive I would not be able stop. Not to eat, pee or even get gas.

Now here's the absurd part. In addition to these woes, my driver's window is broken and stuck in the up position. This means I have to open my door every time I pay a toll or talk to the border guards. But once my door is open, my goose is cooked.

Solution: A one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five watt hairdryer. To make this work I bought a super-badass 2000 watt inverter for $199. I attached appropriate cables, clamped it to my battery, and plugged in the purple hairdryer.

As ridiculous as this sounds, it works. Now I'm thinking of bringing my 1000 watt microwave too. After all, what's a road trip without burritos!?

Toronto St. Patrick's Day Parade 2013

Tomorrow Toronto will hold their 26th annual St. Patrick's Day parade - and they'll be short one DeLorean. I won't be able to attend thanks to the number 114,000 and, ironically, to the colour green.

In the DeLorean world, surpassing 100,000 miles is uncommon. These are collector cars, and have been since the company went bankrupt. Sometime around 1983 people started squirrelling away their DMC-12s, some thinking it would skyrocket in value, others because parts were sometimes difficult to acquire. Mileage, generally, remained very low as the cars were rarely driven.

My DeLorean has 114,000 miles on the clock, which is relatively high. With that much use, things wear out. The novelty of the car is, for me at least, its achilles heel: My gullwing doors aren't working. The problem lies in the worn-out door latches. In the cold they do not catch and the doors pop back open.

As glorious as it would be, I can't drive down the highway in full gullwing mode, Huey Lewis blasting on the tape deck, my ascot blowing in the wind, giving all a rockin' thumbs up.

The Swingles, at DMC Midwest, will be giving me some worn out latch action in April, and while there, I will ask them about the all-aluminum rad from the DeLorean Motor Company and the Toby Peterson Wings-B-Cool cooling fans.

What does this mean? Short of a snow storm, I will be there again next year to help Toronto celebrate St. Patrick's Day!
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See Toronto St. Patrick's Day Parade 2012

DeLorean Speedo Cable - Oh Snap!

When a police officer stops you and rhetorically asks how fast you were going, "No" isn't the best answer. Neither is "less than 88 miles per hour, DUH!"

My speedometer cable broke in the fall, putting me in the stressful situation of constantly scanning bridges, bushes and side streets for sneaky speed traps. Wow, say that 5 times fast! Sneaky speed traps! Sneaky speed traps! Sneaky steed taps! Sneaky sneed maps! Bah! It's more difficult than it looks.

I ordered a new cable from Dave & Julee at DeLorean Motor Company Midwest. It's the lower cable that runs from the bottom of the Lambda counter to the angle drive on the driver's front wheel.

Replacing this cable is another of those very easy jobs that took me considerably longer. I estimate this to be a 10 minute job however, due to my nerve damage it took me about half an hour. I tried to make it easier for myself by jacking up the front of the car to give me more room to access the cable.

My next step was to undo the cable from the bottom of the Lambda and push it through the firewall. However, when I did this I noticed something unusual. There was a small electrical wire piggybacking it through the rubber gasket/plug. "This is a problem!" I thought, as it would mean I'd have to slice the gasket/plug to slide the wire through, and slice my new gasket/plug as well. I followed the wire past my pedals and behind the radio and discovered it was not attached to anything. Although I thought this was a stroke of luck at the time I have now found myself wondering, "Crap. What doesn't work?"

One thing I noticed during this job is that my old cable housing was considerably stiffer than my new cable housing. The speedo cable is prone to snapping and requires periodic lubrication. But I now think age is a factor too. As the cable housing stiffens up with age, it puts more pressure on the inner cable, which binds.

I slid the new cable through the hole in the firewall and screwed it into the Lambda. The most difficult part for me was forcing the new gasket/plug back into the firewall hole. Once it was done I simply screwed the other end of the cable into the angle drive on the front wheel. Easy! And here it is completed.

The only downside to all of this work is that it's -16 Celsius out and I'll have to wait for spring to test it out.

The DeLorean Crash Test

"The DeLorean proved to be a very well designed vehicle in terms of allowing a relatively great amount of front end crush without adversely compromising the survival space in the compartment." -NHTSA

Here we go again! Yet another bonehead has found this old DeLorean crash-test video and I can't stop laughing. The authors' editorial on the impact and on the car itself is erroneous to the point of hilarity.

The comments are SO asinine I'm not even going to put the link to the article because this idiot should not be receiving more traffic. But if you're curious, it was posted January 10 on Bangshift.com. If this posting is indicative of the level of intelligence Bangshift.com employs, I urge you to stay far, far away.

Yes, yes, opinions! Everyone is entitled! Unfortunately many a DeLorean author has formed an opinion having never even set eyes on one. More often than not, they regurgitate incorrect specs and compare the DeLorean to modern cars rather than their 1981 counterparts. Always an amateur thing to do.

The video is old. A total geezer. It has been discussed for years. If you haven't seen it don't watch it like Brian did, full of hate. Watch objectively.

There is a lot of competition but the title, "...fold up like a wet cardboard box", is possibly the most foolish remark. I almost feel sorry for Brian, who doesn't understand crumple zones or, more likely, any sort of basic automotive engineering. I truly feel bad for this dunce who sees wet paper where most see the car crumpling as it was designed.

Because this is the higher 40-mph test it's difficult to compare to other early 80s crash-tests. Most are the more common 30 and 35 mph tests. Regardless, the NHTSA report declares the 40-mph test a success.

Here's the simple truth: the DeLorean was designed to crumple in a crash. By engineers. Engineers are generally considered to be pretty smart. Guys who write shit on the internet? Not so much (Look Mom! I'm on the internet. I'm writing in my blog! Look! MOM! LOOK AT ME!).

Oh Shit! DeLorean LED Lights

I think every DeLorean owner has had that "Oh Shit" moment. Where you've left your doors open at a car show and realize you forgot to disconnect your battery. Well, if you're running original 12v bulbs in your doors, there's a good chance it's dead. Good thing you've got your DeLorean friends around to give you a boost.

But wait! They left their doors open too. Now you're ALL going to need a jump from some guy in a Bricklin. Oh the humanity!

Fear not. The solution is LED bulbs, which consume the tiniest fraction of what the 12v bulbs do. And yes, I realize I'm probably the last person to do this, so my posting is rather pointless. Again.

I used a flathead screwdriver and a lot of finger-power to pop out my rubber light casings. The plastic lens was easy to remove from the rubber. I installed two red LEDs and four orange ones. With the plastic lenses back on, the colour was better.

Despite this being one of the easiest jobs on a DeLorean, it took me a long, painful time with this due to my nerve damage. About an hour if I recall.

The LED kit is available from the DeLorean Motor Company for $20. And yes, these LEDs have typical LED problems - a very small compromise I'm willing to make. (I've also saved my original bulbs in case I want to change them back one day.)

What are the problems? Aside from minor colour differences, the big issue is that they are directional. Incandescent bulbs glow in almost 360 degrees. These LEDs point outward, and therefore don't illuminate the plastic plate evenly. There's a bright spot in the middle instead of a warm even glow. See my comparison photo here. The LED is the photo on the right.

But this is a small price to pay for peace of mind. You can now leave your doors open at car shows and have nothing to worry about. Oh, except those sticky, snot-covered kids who climb right into your driver's seat and goo everything up. There's a limit to what LED bulbs can do.

DeLorean Bling

SQUEE SQUEE SQUEE SQUEE! I heard the nose coming from the engine, directly behind my head. "That sounds like us" I said, slightly worried. "No, it's NOT us!" declared Sue. SQUEE SQUEE SQUEE SQUEE! "Yeah, that's definitely us." I replied. "No! Don't stop the car!" yelled Sue.

A few seconds later I had no choice. With a tiny snap my rear window fogged up. I immediately pulled off the highway and shut the car off, then watched as coolant spewed onto the ground. I peered into the engine bay only to find my water pump pulley was missing. It had snapped off due to metal fatigue, wedging itself into a nook in the 2.8L PRV.

Dave Swingle, owner of DeLorean Motor Company Midwest called it "A very unusual failure!" And so, my summer fun ended and work began on the DeLorean.

My choices were as follows. Pull the water pump, press a new pulley on, and reinstall my water pump. I didn't see the value in that since the cost savings over option two was about 37 cents. Option two was pull the water pump and replace with an OEM water pump and pulley. And finally, option 3 was pull the water pump and replace with a bolt-on pulley & pump.

For less than $100 more, I liked option 3 the best. The bolt-on pulley was the most logical choice. If my pulley ever failed again I could simply unbolt it myself and bolt on a new one, thus saving me the hefty labour expense (By the book, it's 6.5 hrs).

So who sold a bolt-on pulley? Hervey. And it was anodized aluminum. Sweet.

When my mechanic placed the order, Hervey told him there were only 2 left. And he wasn't planning further production of them. I bought the entire silicone hose kit (lifetime warranty) and my mechanic took the utmost care installing it all, as if he were working on a show-car.

Should this pulley fail, it is an inexpensive DIY job I am absolutely capable of undertaking. Should it not, I have a bitchin bit of bling to dress up my 31 year old engine bay! It's always awesome to make the best of a bad situation.

My Missing Taillight

My angle drive broke suddenly on the weekend reminding me that I had done quite a lot of work on my car all summer and forgotten to blog about it. It's been pretty dead at dmc&me all summer so I thought I'd update... just as soon as that tumbleweed blows by.

Okay good.

So, why is my DeLorean tail light missing? Because I had to replace the light in my engine bay of course!

Almost ten years ago, when my mechanic was fabricating me some fuel lines (before I even knew there was a DeLorean Motor Company in Texas, and before our local club existed) he left the engine cover open for a number of hours.

During this time the incandescent work light bulb heated up to over 200 degrees, melted the plastic case and then burned out. If you had to do any engine work in the dark, it's a relatively useless light so there was no urgency in replacing it. But I had the parts, and was hoping to perhaps win an award at one of our local shows this summer, so I got to work fixing small things like this.

In order to replace the light case/fixture ($26 from DMCH), I removed the tail light to gain access to the back of the nut/bolt combo. I slid the wires through the hole in and into the white case, seen here. While I was at it, I used the LED bulb kit ($20 from DMCH) to prevent this from happening again. View the bulb here.

Another benefit of the LED light is that it allows me to leave my engine compartment open during a show without draining the battery. That way nobody will miss out on my sexy coolant hoses.

You can see the melted light next to the new light here. It's a definite visual improvement. The only downside to the LED bulb is that it is a cold, harsh blue rather than the warm yellow glow of a standard incandescent. But if you install one and it really bothers you, there are websites where you can custom order a warmer, more natural LED colour.

Volunteering at FanExpo 2012

Michael J. Fox's disease is terrible. It is the reason he founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's research. Volunteering is not terrible. It is the reason I spent Friday evening and all day Saturday at FanExpo.

At this point the news is old. Sure, if I wanted I *could* just hit 88 mph in the Time Machine, go back and write this post before FanExpo, but I can't seem to get my hands on any plutonium. Sure, in 2015 I will be able to walk right in to my corner store and buy it, but for now I'm stuck.

So, back to FanExpo. My friend, owner of this amazing Time Machine, had a wedding to attend, so I volunteered to raise funds with his brother at the exhibit.

People usually go crazy for DeLoreans and there was no exception at this massive nerd-fest. Ok, don't get all angry that I just called it a nerd-fest. It's okay. I'm allowed to say that. I am one of you.

Besides, you know it's true.

Many commented that FanExpo was nothing more than a cash-grab these last 2 years, but said they were happy to see someone doing something for charity. Many were more than happy to hand over $20 to sit in the Time Machine and take photos. Some were happy to donate even more than that. To those people: thank you.

To the Hulk, who tried to rip the front bumper off the car, thank you for your donation. To the Staypuft Marshmallow (wo)man, thank you. To Doctor Who, thank you. To all the girls in their teeny tiny costumes, thank you, thank you, thank you. To those "inebriated" scientists, thank you. To Omni Television for helping spread the word about this car even further, thank you.

To Venessa in her Transformer DeLorean costume, thank you. To Marty McFly, thank you. To anyone not in a costume, thank you. To all the excited people who were happy to give to such a worthy cause and stop and chat for a bit, thank you. And to Christopher Lloyd coming to Canada and drawing even more attention to the Time Machine, thank you.

Even without Christopher Lloyd in the car lines were long and people's patience was tested. The rooms were hot, crowded and smelled of sweaty farts. So if you stuck it out and donated your hard-earned money, I sincerely thank you. Alternately, if you stuck it out and donated stolen money, I also sincerely thank you.

18th Annual Woodward Cruise

The Woodward Dream Cruise in Royal Oak, Michigan, is essentially the world's largest car show. Millions of people show up every year to admire and laugh at the amazing and ridiculous parade of cars in front of them.

Yes, I have been to the Woodward Cruise many times before, but this is the first time I drove my DeLorean up and down the avenue. I drove alongside Corvettes and Chevelles, Thunderbirds and Triumphs, Packards and Porsches.

I appreciated the wild amount of cheering my car garnered as I cruised, doors open. It got more attention than most. After all, I was smack-dab in the middle of John DeLorean's territory.

As I crept along, I had a strange conversation with a bystander. Yelling over the din of the rumbling V-8s, it went like this:
"Where's John?"
"Cemetery!"
"In jail?"
"No, he's dead!"
"Did he die in jail?"
"No! New Jersey!"
On my second day of cruising a convertible pulled alongside me. The conversation was lighter (and cuter) as the girls filmed me for Street Sport TV (hooray!) and made Back to the Future comments.

Heavy police presence and huge fines hindered antics, launches and burnouts, but there were still a few bad boys willing to take the chance. Especially when egged by spectators holding signs that read, "Drive it like you got a pair!"

I eventually fell victim to this. Stopped in traffic I was provoked by the relentless badgering of an 8 year old girl. Yeah, you heard me. Soon a guy joined her, egging me to rev my engine. Over and over I resisted... then failed.

Saturday afternoon, at the Woodward Cruise, I revved the dinky 2.8 litre Peugeot/Renault/Volvo V-6 and did the DeLorean community proud. With my new aluminum water pump pulley and K&N filter, the engine revved faster than it has before. In a second I hit 7 grand. It sounded surprisingly good. Then the rpms dropped, dropped some more and then dropped some more. Right to 0.

I stalled.

Embarrassed, I nervously started it up and drove away, having proved to the crowds that the DeLorean really is that great big pile of crap they all think it is. Yay me.

StreetSportTV.com

Steam Trains & DeLoreans: BTTF 3!

On Canada Day 2012 I travelled through time. Right back to 1883. It was "the Coolest vehicle of the 1980s meets the coolest vehicle of the 1880s" in Tottenham, north of Toronto.

Our car club, which includes one Time Machine DeLorean, gathered at the South Simcoe Railway and rode the only functioning steam powered train in Ontario: Canadian Pacific engine 136. It is among a very small handful of steam trains still operational in Canada.

The boiler was warmed up the night before, and the engineer began stoking the fire around 6 a.m. Four hours later the DeLoreans began rolling in. We admired the engine, built in 1883, as crowds gathered around our cars beneath clouds of steam and smoke.

A sight to behold, everyone loved the combination of cars and trains. But a battle was brewing as the Time Machine silently faced off against the steam train. It was the power of the future vs. the power of the past, as Mr. Fusion's supreme efficiency taunted the coal-fed locomotive. Black tears rolled down the front of #136 as she pulled away from the station.

All this action really gave me a yearning to watch Back to the Future 3 again.

This hobby really is amazing. The people I've met are so interesting and fun. It's not just car-guys - the steam train is a perfect example of that. The South Simcoe Railway is run by volunteers who are doing essentially the exact same thing I am doing. They are preserving a piece of history, a piece of beautiful technology from the past. And they're doing it because they love it.

D-Rex Will Crush Your Face

Six years ago DCS Chicago celebrated the 25th anniversary of the DeLorean. It was the first DCS show I'd ever attended. I've now been to 4 shows, and the awesomeness hasn't dwindled.

D-Rex, the monster truck DeLorean returned to DCS 2012, and this time I got to see and hear it driving. Sure, it's not a true PRV-powered DeLorean: it's a DeLorean body on top of a Chevy 4x4 chassis. But it's huge, it's loud, and it's awesome. Alongside Rich's D-Rex was his Limousine with six, count 'em, six gullwing doors.

In addition to these two, the DeLorean Motor Company had the new DMC EV on display. You know the one. It's been all over the internet. The interior is updated and includes door launch buttons! It will purportedly use a 400 volt AC induction liquid cooled electric motor producing 260 hp (194 kW) and 360 lb·ft (490 N·m) of torque providing 0-60 mph acceleration of 4.9 seconds. Would you pay $90,000 for one?

The DeLorean prototype, named Proto1, was back again and owner Tony Ierardi announced it would be changing hands. Additionally, five unique-engined DeLoreans included the stage III supercharger (5 psi), a carbureted version, a Corvette LS1 engine swap, an Acura TL 3.2L engine swap and a turbocharged Toyota Supra inline six (2JZ) engine swap.

Back to the Future stars like Jeffrey Weissman (George McFly), Andrew Probert (artist), Kevin Pike (F/X) and writer/producer Bob Gale also joined in the fun. Claudia Wells (Jennifer Parker) even remembered my name - Marty. Should I be impressed? As if that wasn't awesome enough, Don Fullilove aka Mayor Goldie Wilson made an awesome surprise visit, awesomely posing for photos and signing (awesome) autographs.

Awesome.

Finally, making a very special appearance was the only screen-used DeLorean in private hands. The Time Machine from Back to the Future III was on display and, not surprisingly, drew a crowd.

Despite (usually) being the only Canadians at the DCS shows, we always have a great time and have made a couple of very close friends. If you weren't at DCS Orlando, you missed an amazing time and should plan on attending DCS 2014 in Dayton, Ohio.

Oh and if you recall, I was going to talk to James Espey regarding the unusual spare tire I have. Unfortunately it completely slipped my mind. Maybe he'll drop by my blog again with an answer.


DCS 2010
DCS 2008 #1
DCS 2008 #2
DCS 2006 #1
DCS 2006 #2
DCS 2006 #3

Canada's Royal Visit: DMC Midwest

Our DeLorean club in Ontario consists of over 60 members, 20 of whom are highly involved. Ten years ago it was not this way. But things have changed, and finally the United States has noticed. On June 2, 2012 the crew from DeLorean Motor Company Midwest paid us a visit. June 2, 2012 was a very special day.

Dave & Julee and their entourage drove ten hours from Illinois to Toronto, then spent an entire day diagnosing and repairing problems with our cars. Helping them get through the workload was the staff of Toronto Brake, who graciously hosted garage duties.

Upon arriving, one of our members, trapped inside his car, required an emergency rescue. DMC Midwest's visit could not have been better timed. Some of the other work was bit more mundane, however. While some cars had their CO mixtures adjusted, others had new window motors installed, a/c units diagnosed and hydraulic clutch lines replaced.

I myself had my door alignment checked, a windshield wiper electrical repair and a stuck open window temporarily fixed (until I can pick up a new motor at DCS 2012 next week).

Later in the day the most exciting repair took place: a torsion bar adjustment! This unique process done with proprietary "home-made" tools drew a crowd of onlookers. In less time than it took to replace a pair of inner door seals, Jason and Mike had the drooping doors functioning perfectly.

This was the largest DeLorean event in Canadian history, with approximately 20 cars showing up, including Ken's Time Machine and a DMC-12 from Quebec. At the end of the day we went for dinner locally, inadvertently holding an impromptu car show in the parking lot. For the next couple of hours we relaxed, told stories, ate, drank, and basically shared each others good company. A perfect day.

Toronto St. Patrick's Day Parade 2012

Toronto held its 25th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday in the record heat, under clear blue skies, drawing approximately 300,000 cheering spectators.

I'm not sure how the decision came to be, but sitting in the staging area with seven other DeLoreans, my buddy Ken told me I was lead car. "We're saving the gold one until the end," he said. "It'll be the pot o' gold!"

And so, sometime after noon, I rolled forward out of the St. George Street staging area and onto Bloor with a pack of DeLoreans behind me. "DeLoreans! Attack formation!" I yelled. The sun glinted off our stainless panels and the crowds stared in awe. They took photos, video, and cheered. As we cruised by, doors up like a flock of metal seagulls, they asked questions, ran along side us, and even jumped inside for a quick photo.

We were happy to oblige. We were mini celebrities without the drawbacks! No expensive security, no bulletproof glass, just the friendliest bunch of proud Irish folk and wannabees smiling & waving.

Yonge is downhill, and we enjoyed the chance to coast in neutral. Rounding the corner onto Queen my clutch leg was aching. As I approached the review stand and saluting officers, I realized the end of the BEST day was at hand. That's when a City TV news crew saw me.

Peter Kim did a take as I rolled alongside him. He didn't like it and attempted another. He then asked if he could sit in the car. He hopped in, we talked for a quick second and they did another couple of takes. He interviewed me very briefly, thanked me and exited the car. The interview was cut (hopefully not because of my supreme retardation), but the rest of the clip made the 6 p.m. newscast! You can view it here.

What a way to make my parade debut!

Made In Ireland

When someone says Ireland to you, what comes to mind? Triple Distilled Irish whiskey? Sure. Four-leaf clovers? Sure. Bare-knuckle boxing? Maybe. But what about cars?

One of the most loved, well-known cars on the planet was lovingly built in Ireland. Think about that for a second. The United States is famous for open roads and the Mustang. Germany's got the Autobahn and BMW. Italy's busting at the seams with all manner of supercar like Ferrari and Lamborghini.

And Ireland has the DeLorean.

2012 will see Toronto's 25th St. Patrick's Day parade and if the weather holds there will be 10 gorgeous stainless steel cars smack in the middle. We'll be cruising, doors up, in front of the 300,000 spectators.

In preparation for the parade, I have begun construction of the banner that will adorn my windshield. I purchased green and white Bristol board (sorry! English, I know) at the Dollar store for 50 cents. The lettering I'm cutting will spell out: MADE IN IRELAND. And if that doesn't attract enough attention, I've also acquired a jaunty little green top hat to add some flair to my dull personality.

So if I've disrespected you with my rotten rants and half-witted insults and you'd like to fight it out like an Irishman, I'll be cruising down Yonge St. Sunday, March 11. In fact, here's the parade route, so you can thoroughly plan your attack. After you beat the snot out of me, just do me a favour and buy me a Redbreast 12 and I'm sure we'll be fast friends.