Repairs, new DeLorean friends, and conveyor sushi.

September 27, 2010 Monday

Up early and on the road to DMC Northwest. We really don’t know what will happen with the door hinge. Oliver has read as much as he can on the internet about broken hinges but there’s not a lot of info available. We arrive at the garage before Toby, so we seek some coffee and a chocolate doughnut and find them at Safeway; Oli keeps trying to tell me something about an elephant in a Safeway bag, I think he needs some coffee.

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Oliver interjection: “How do you get an elephant into a SafeWay bag?”

You: I don’t know. How?

“Well, first you take the ‘S’ out of Safe. And then you take the ‘F’ out of Way.”

You: There is no ‘F’ in way.

“That’s right!”

(Well, I think it’s funny.)

Now back to Terry's part of the blog:

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We make our way back to the garage and there’s another DeLorean waiting for service. His name is Ben and he just bought the car a few days ago, and would like the brakes checked. “The car only has 17,000 miles” he says proudly! We notice that he’s driving it on it’s original NTC tires, which must be 25+ years old. He may need more than just brakes…

With two cars waiting, another D drives in; another brand new owner who wants his car inspected by Toby. Toby arrives and gets right to it. He rolls a D out of the bay and into the lot that is getting a new Stage 2 engine installed and we roll in our D with her broken wing.

Toby opens the door to release Oli out into the wild, as I help put the door brace in. Upon inspection, we see that the hinge on the door half has broken as well as the pin and both pieces are still there. Since there are apparently no huge inventory of hinges left over from the factory closing, (unlike many other parts) and no one has deemed making new ones to be profitable, Jon, the tech believes he can weld it back together. If we had more time, I’m sure we could locate the part, but ‘time’ is not a luxury we have right now. So Jon gives repair a try. The weld seems to go well, with good penetration and he’s happy about the way it looks. Oli figures it’s like a broken bone. They often heal back stronger than they were to start with. Toby is off to Home Depot to find a rod to replace the pin that snapped. So both the hinge and pin needed replacing. The good news is that the torsion bar is in good shape. The door is repaired, and the tension adjusted, and Oli can get in and out of the car regular style now! He’s so happy to see the wing rise up all the way on it’s own power and not droop. As with most DeLorean repairs, the car is enjoying the attention, and presents a coolant leak for Jon and Toby to chase after. The new silicone hoses take a while to settle into place, and since they are so ‘squishy’, they often take a few tightening sessions before all the leaks are stopped. This is the third session of pressure testing and tightening the new hoses, and hopefully this will be the last. No big leaks, and no big deal. Just part of the game. The parking brake needs a half turn tightening, so that is done. We notice the passenger front wheel has some play in it, which is a bother, since we just replaced the entire steering rack in November. But we’ll have to tackle that issue later.

It’s lunch time and Andrew Wells, a DeLorean owner of several months, comes by the shop. Andrew has been checking out the blog and requested Toby call him when we arrive. He’s a big BTTF fan and is considering doing some time machine converting of his DeLorean. It’s lunch time and he takes us to a great bagel shop near where he works. The three of us pile into his really nice D, and off we go! He’s got new upholstery and the car is just pristine. Very thorough reconditioning. He had wanted an automatic, but learned to drive a stick on this very car! (Back in 1983, all I had to learn on was an old VW Bug!) We swap stories and he even buys us lunch! What a great feeling to get treated so nicely by a generous stranger. (though now, he’s our newest Seattle friend!) Andrew works for Microsoft (BING division) and he points to the looming skyscraper through the cafe shop window. Terry and I do not disclose that we are Macintosh people, for fear that he will revoke our bagels...

We return to the garage, and Misty, Toby’s wife arrives and she and I go off for some girl time. Oli sticks around with the boys and meets Feisal, a long time D owner who has a turbo getting worked on. It has been highly modified and is his 7^th or 8^th DeLorean! He obviously loves playing with them and the various modifications that can be done. He enjoys our time machine and offers to set up a quick event on the college campus where he works. He says he’ll work through the permits, etc. and plan to set up in front of the student center around 11am on Wednesday. We’ll see!
Oliver receives an exciting email from one of the photographers from the salt flats! He followed through with his promise and sent us some outstanding photos of our car, both in action, racing across the flats, and posed with the lights and beautiful, moon-like surroundings as the background. Just fantastic!

Toby and Misty have offered us a bed at their house while we are in Seattle; Both say they want to support our mission, and agree that saving us the out of pocket expense of a hotel room can be part of their contribution! So very kind and thoughtful! It’s really nice to sleep ‘at home’, for a change. They have a nice property in the woods, a peaceful distance from the city. We even see a wild bobcat strolling by the barn! Dinner at a sushi place, where the plates of sushi pass by the tables on a narrow conveyor belt. Everything is fresh and we have a wonderful time visiting with our friends and trying mysterious looking dishes, trying to identify what each food is. Back to their house for sleep.