DeLorean Air Deflector Plates

The Air Deflector Plates on a DeLorean are considered by most as useless.  Many owners have removed theirs.  What are these plates and where are they suppose to go and do?  Well, if we raise the DeLorean and get an upskirt shot, we see where it goes.

Upskirt shot of DeLorean, showing Air Deflector Plates

I assume from the name, it 'deflects air'.  Where?  I have no clue.  Looks like it channels the air to cool the engine...or maybe the wheels to cool the brakes.  Many think its main purpose is to cover the trailing arm and protect it from debris.

Anyway, I used to have them.  See the picture above.  For some reason, they are not there anymore.  Well, there is a reason.  My guess is, when I took it in for service, I needed an alignment...and either DMC-CA or the alignment shop, removed the plates and 'forgot' to put them back on.  You need to remove the plates in order to gain access to the trailing arm for alignment adjustment.   It has been over a year since I has this done, I just happen to be underneath my car one day and noticed that I was missing these plates.  Off to eBay.

Air Deflector Plates - 'outside'

Air Deflector Plates - 'inside'

I found a set of plates.  They were a good price, less than half of OEM ones.  So, I went ahead and got them...in case I even want to put them on, again.  As you can see in the pictures, these were used, dirty, and painted.  When I got them in, I saw that the 'inside' had grease splatter, while the 'outside' had a tar based coating on it. 

Soap, water, and a lot of scrubbing and scraping took care of the grease.  The tar coating took a little more effort.  I took it to work and sand blasted the paint off.  It took about an hour to do both plates.  The end result was almost new looking parts.

Cleaned 'inside' of Air Deflector Plates

Cleaned 'outside' of Air Deflector Plates

Sandblasting left a little 'texture' to the finish. I may or may not clear coat it to protect it better.  There are still rust stains from other metal parts that were in contact with the aluminum plates.  But, that is not a big deal.  I went through all that trouble, and I might no even put it back on my car.  At least I have then if I even want protect my trailing arm or 'deflect air'.

Fixing Window Switch - Part III

This is not the first time, nor the second time...this is the third and hopefully, final time repairing the window switches.  Well, it not really a repair, more of a modification to the car to allow the switched to sit properly. 

As I have concluded, the problem is not with the switch...well, it kinda is.  Functionally, as a switch, it is fine.  They work pretty much flawlessly.  The problem is with the design.  The new window switched from DMC are too long.

Older switch (left) and new switch (right)

Note in the photo that the switch on the right is a little longer. The one on the left is also a reproduction switch.  I do not have an original switch to compare to.  I am guessing that it would be closer in length to the one on the left.

As I mentioned before, this extra length causes the connector to hit the base of the center console.  This pushes the switch out of its place and can cause shorting of the wires...as it happened with my first switch.  This problem has been bugging my since I got these new switches.  Today, this all changes.

Wear marks show excessive amount of rubbing from the connector

Picture shows where the connector is rubbing the center console, part of the fiberglass body.  In order to gain access to this area, I will need to disassemble the center console...again.

DeLorean center console

It is a lot of work just to get to that area.  Luckily, I have done this before when I swapped out all the lights for LED's.

Cutting into the fiberglass body

I used a rotary tool to cut into the fiberglass body.  According to the manuals, there is nothing directly under this area.  So, cut away.

The fiberglass is thicker than I thought

Cutting the holes was fairly easy.  I did everything free hand.  I have a pretty steady hand, and this will not be seen by anyone.

Tape to prevent loose piece from falling through

I put a piece of tape so the loose piece would not fall into the abyss.  The issue is only on the driver's side, I went ahead an did both sides.  After each cut, I vacuumed out the dust.  Cutting fiberglass creates a lot of dust.  Pretty sure I inhaled some DeLorean dust.  Once done with rough cutting the holes with the rotary tool, I used a file to round off the edges.

Now, the fun part of reassembling the center console, and seeing if this solution will work.

Connector is free of obstruction

Success!  There is no more rubbing of the connector.  You can see where the connector would have pushed against the console base.  The switch now sits flush with no binding.  I should have done this years ago when I first got my new switches. 

So much better

It makes me wonder why others have not had this rubbing and binding problem with the newer switches.  Since the newer switches have a built in light, I would assume that many have upgraded to this feature.   There is a plate that goes in the switch to 'activate' the light up feature.  I did not install this plate, since it added an extra 2mm to the length of the connection.  Now that I have enough clearance, I will install the plates...first, I have to find them

There must be a reason that DMC designed the new switches to be longer, other than to put in a light.  Surely a specific part like this should have gone through a lot of debugging before production.  Or, maybe my car is just that goofy.  I have the rare textured pontoons, which is part of the fiberglass body.  Perhaps those with textured pontoons have a higher console base that interferes with the new window switches.

This problem is solved...for now.

For those wondering how thick the fiberglass body is, it is 0.225" (at least in the center).

FUCK YOU, STOP CALLING ME - August 2012

Holy shit!  Three weeks between calls.  Can you believe my last call was in July...and I only had two calls last month?  Oh, you thought I was slacking off?  No fucking way, I am but a soldier in this army that is fighting against these terrorist.  I cannot...we cannot give up.  Otherwise, the telemarketers win.  Besides, these posts bring in a lot of traffic onto my blog and I think people are entertained with my comments.

I almost thought that the Do Not Call Registry was working.  I think the Olympics has distracted the telemarketers for a few weeks. 

10 August 2012
   360-474-3968  Marysville, WA  Well, of course this shit is coming from the Pacific Northwest.  That is the hub of terrorism.  Fuck these people.  Washington and Oregon, home of hipsters and telemarketers.

30 August 2012
   310-356-0410  El Segundo, CA  Wow, twenty days between calls...and only the second call of the month.  This call almost caught me off guard.  It is a somewhat local call and a new, almost legitimate looking number. A quick search on Google confirms that it is a telemarketer/spam number.  Fuck you!