Front Fascia Restoration:
It is common on DeLoreans for the front fascia to warp above the headlights due to sun damage and an overall poor design of how the fascia is attached/supported on the front of the car.
The warping was not too extreme on my car, but definitely an eye sore at certain angles:
Along with fixing the warping I repaired a lot of other components on the front end and replaced all the old zinc plated steel hardware with stainless steel.
I started by removing the upper (non-functional) grille followed by the spoiler lower (functional) radiator rock screen.
Lucky for me I didn't have much trouble with the studs molded into the spoiler. These are known to twist/shear off when attempting to remove the mounting nuts. Only one caused me some trouble, but was an easy fix.
I drilled a pilot hole and then a larger hole into which a new M6 bolt could be slipped in from behind. The way the spoiler is designed the bolt head will not be visible after installation.
The rock screen needed some TLC, so after some sanding and prep work it got a coat of SEM trim black. It should hold up for a few more years so I can hold off on dropping $180 on a powerdercoated stainless reproduction from DMC Houston.
More pictures of the front end disassembly. There was a small (and luckily abandoned) hornet's nest in the DS headlight area.
The service manual says to remove the front bumper the hood needs to come off first, but I simply used a stubby phillips head screwdriver to remove the screws in the trunk area. I replaced all the old rusted harware in this area with stainless steel as well.
The fiberglass support was also sanded and repainted with SEM trim black.
One of the turn signal connectors needed some work due to rubbing on the metal headlight bracket and a mouse that chewed through the wire insulation. The remaining headlight plugs were sprayed with contact cleaner and re-lubricated with dielectric grease.
The headlamp brackets and buckets both got sanded and recoated for additional rust prevention.
To repair the fascia warping two 1/8" x 3/4" x 18" aluminum bars were cut to fit the curvature of the fascia.
I also glued in some 1.5" wide bar underneath the headlamp openings to add additional support. To prevent scratching the fascia paint while clamping I used a strip of oak trim covered with a long sock. 3M Window Weld was used due to it's super strength and durability.
All the freshly refinished parts were ready to bolt back on the car which went pretty fast. I had to modify the headlamp finisher pieces and make them an 1/8 shorter to give clearance for the aluminum over the lights.
Complete!
Page 2 : Cener Console Updates Page 4 : Cold Air Intake
