DeLorean Mailing List 9/9/95

DeLorean Mailing List #011 - 9/9/95 Subjects: Excerpts from the De Lorean Home Page message board Re: Cleaning the black areas ----------------------------------- The following three messages were copied from Dave Takeuchi's message board. Dave has told me that he is probably going to take down the message board section of his De Lorean page now that the mailing list is up, so I wanted to post this excerpt, and hopefully, get other peoples opinions on them. ************************** Date: August 8, 1995 From: Dave Kaplan E-mail: (a href="mailto:dkaplan(AT)netins.net">dkaplan(AT)netins.net Subject: ASI Radio I have one of the later KAPAC/DeLorean cars (VIN# 16693) with the ASI radio. Does anyone know someone who repairs this radio? The performance is terrible and the tape player no longer works. (70K miles on the car). Response from Knut Grimsrud (knut_s_grimsrud(AT)ccm.jf.intel.com) The ASI radio is nothing exotic although it is plenty expensive if you investigate replacing it (the last I checked, the radio was in the $500 range from KAPAC). I had mine repaired at my local car stereo shop on the nearest street corner when mine crapped out (the repair cost me $20). I would recommend that you remove and install the radio yourself (even though it is a bit awkward to get to) and simply walk into various car stereo/repair shops with it and ask if they can fix it. Like I say, there is nothing special about the radio that makes it any more difficult to fix than any other radio. The ASI radio is not a bad unit considering it is 12 years old and performs adequately for most people. I would discourage anyone from taking their ASI radio out and replacing it with a new $150 unit from Silo as the ASI radio is worth considerably more and is usually adquate. It is also nice to have the original radio in the car for originality reasons. The thought of a DMC-12 with a high-power stereo system playing rap music gives me the creeps. The early cars had poor radio performance that stemmed from the use of the dinky windshield antenna. Your '83 should have a working power antenna in the rear. A dead tape player can come from several trivial reasons that is usually readily fixed. Your stereo should be performing well when it is in good shape. Knut Grimsrud DeLorean Owners Association Regional Chapter 41 Reply from Brian Henderlong to Knut Grimsrud This little diatribue was prompted by Knut Grimsrud's comment (in response to David Kaplan's entry) that "the thought of a DMC-12 with a high-power stereo system playing rap music gives me the creeps." I'm not an owner, but I've been an admirer of the DMC-12 for many years. Here in Tampa, I've seen one red, one black, one yellow, and several plain stainless steel DeLoreans. It's curious to me that there is such concern over maintaining each car's original stock condition. Is there any reason this "cult of purity" has developed around these cars? After seeing dozens and dozens of the stainless steel variety, the sight of a little color (any color) on a DeLorean is a welcom sight to me. In an age where cars roll off the assembly line like cookies from a cookie-cutter, why don't DeLorean owners like standing out from the 6,000 or so other owners who all have cars the same color? To be honest, the relative scarcity of these cars wouldn't prevent me at all from creating an individual statement of pride from my DeLorean (if I owned one). The thing that gives ME the creeps is the thought that there are so many of you out there who are trying so hard to be exactly the same. Please don't be offended. I just feel that if I ever bought a DeLorean, my primary goals would be making certain the car was sound to drive every day, and then making the car stand out from the crowd of other DeLoreans. Putting a CD player in the dash would be just part of comfortable day-to-day driving. Does anyone have any thoughts about this attitude? ***************** Is it curious to anyone else why there is such concern over maintaining our cars original stock condition? How many of us on this list have painted our DeLorean's? Do those of us that haven't feel like we're driving "cookie cutter" cars? Are those of us with stock original cars card-carrying members of the "Cult of Purity" and are we really trying so hard to be the same? Everyones comments are welcome and appreciated! James "Mikasa" Espey From: Knut_S_Grimsrud(AT)ccm.jf.intel.com Date: Fri, 08 Sep 95 08:53:00 PDT To: dmcnews(AT)goodnet.com Subject: Re: Cleaning the black areas greymattrs(AT)aol.com (Grey Matthews) wrote: >DeLoreans have a lot of black trim , etc. on them, and I have been using >Armor All on areas like the louvres, front air dam and side moldings. >However, the front and rear fascias have a matte black finish on each end >(the "bumpers"). I have tried Armor All, car wax, a "Black Trim" polish and >STILL can't get them to look as black as the other areas mentioned. What is >everybody else using on their cars? I have had good luck with two different products on the various black areas on my car. If the black is "discolored" then none of the preservative products will help, but if the black is merely "dull" then these will help. I'm not sure the proper procedure for correcting discoloration, but it will have to involve "coloring" the areas in some way (like having your louvers re-painted). For smooth areas (like the bumbers) I usually prefer Formula 2001 unless the weather looks like it will rain. Formula 2001 leaves a pretty good shine and deepens the black areas well. The drawback is that it is water soluble and will wash off at the first rain shower. I also do not like to use the stuff on porus areas (like the side rub strips and the liscence plate cover) as it does not seem to penetrate all that well. For the porus areas or when the weather looks questionable, I prefer using Clear Guard. This is a silicone oil that does not dry up and does not wash off. It penetrates very well, but because of its nature it is not very suitable for non-porus areas like the bumpers, because it just leaves them wet. It still shines them up well, but you have to be meticulus in wiping off all the excess. It also tends to attract dirt as dust tends to stick to the slightly oily surface it leaves. For porous areas, the Clear Guard is great. I think Dave recently used "Black Chrome" to polish up his louvres with good results, but you will have to ask him about it directly. Knut Grimsrud Coordinator Regional Chapter 41 ---------------------------- End of DMC-News Digest #011 *************************** Go to previous digest | Go to next digest. Back to DeLorean Mailing List Page. Return to Back Issues page. Having problems with these pages? Have a good idea for the back Issues? Email me at: backissues(AT)dmcnews.com Member of the LinkExchange