Ace-Garageguy

Man...that must be one serious badmofo woodpecker.

First search term I tried, "mini jeeplike vehicle" brought up a photo of the proposed electric version. Straight shot from there.

Isn't this the stuff that also works great as a dessert topping and a breath freshener? That's what I heard from my cat's vet's poolboy's 1/2 sister's aunt's chiropractor.

SciManDan is always a hoot. Here he pokes holes in the unbelievably stupid drivel put forward by a guy named Jason. How do these people zip their pants without putting themselves in the hospital? Ain't technology grand, providing a world-wide platform for morons, imbeciles, and the willfully ignorant to make total fools of themselves? Gotta love how our education system is turning out idiots who don't understand anything, and who think they've found some boogieman conspiracy hiding in plain sight because they're totally incapable of drawing correct inferences from available data.

Here's the thread that photo originally appeared on. Maybe someone from that time could help you. ALSO...post the shot in "wanted" and "aftermarket / resin" in the truck section, below. Those guys are usually pretty on top of what's what in truck parts.

PPS. If somebody came to me and just HAD to have an LS in a DeLorean, I'd do my damnedest to convince him to let me do a sidewinder setup. This has been fairly common in Fieros for years, and gets everything installed in a quite limited space. Though still not an "easy" swap, it should eliminate a fair bit of hacking of the main frame in the little DMC, get the engine out of the cabin, and should handle more like a Miura.

See 3 & 4 in my post above. ^^^ By the by...I have one in the shop as we speak, re-engineering and replacing much of the abysmal electrical and cooling systems with stuff that will actually work. The owner loves the thing, and has mentioned an LS swap. Just for grins, I spent a fair bit of time measuring for a mid-engine configuration too, as building oddball stuff like this is what I do for a living. Almost anything is possible, you can just about put ANY engine in ANY vehicle. But in this case, my biggest question is: why bother? PS. I have a DeLorean service manual with a pic of the initial MID-engined concept on the cover rather than the production version. It looks more like a Gandini-designed Lamborghini, and is strikingly attractive. Think Diablo with a tail profile reminiscent of a Merc C111. Unfortunately, the realities of economics dictated compromise after compromise, and what could have been a truly world-class supercar was dumbed down to become not much more than an automotive oddity.

How does that have anything whatsoever to do with building a mid-engined DeLorean?

1) Just about anything would make a better gearbox for LS power than that little Renault piece. Even an old Corvair Saginaw. 2) Having that much engine hanging out behind the rear axle is going to make for an evil-handling, tail-happy beast, just dying to swap ends while braking into a turn. The stock DeLorean isn't known for its handling prowess at the limit. This just makes it worse. Stock, the cars understeer initially, but go towards oversteer when lifting the throttle foot or braking in a turn. On slick pavement, or going fast, this can become deadly in an instant...particularly for relatively unskilled drivers without a lot of practice driving tail-heavy cars. 3) Going mid-engine is possible, but WAY beyond the engineering abilities of the majority of builders. The chassis is of backbone design, with Y members at the ends. To make space for the engine forward of the gearbox, you'd need to redesign the rear of the chassis entirely. 4) And even if you did all that, you still have the DeLorean's 95" wheelbase to contend with. I've done V8 swaps in Porsche 914s, with a 96.5" wheelbase, and the engine cover is where you'd really like to have your right elbow in a perfect world. The DeTomaso Pantera, with an even longer 98.3" wheelbase, STILL suffers from the same thing to an extent.

Take a pretty awful car and make it a faster pretty awful car.

And I'd buy 'em all. Every last one. And at LEAST two of the Borgward, the Scenicruiser and the Duel truck. I nominate this man for King (as long as you throw in a bullet-nose Stude).

Or a mobile mother-in-law suite. And keep the back-seat drivers, or the constant "are we there yet?" out of earshot.

Actually, #6 is "styrene", the polystyrene our kits are made of, as well as packing peanuts, foam cups and coolers, etc. But within the "styrene" category, there are hundreds of specific formulas that all have slightly different properties (like thermal stability, toughness, brittleness, solvent resistance, etc.). #7 is "other" and includes BPA-containing plastics and polycarbonates in general, Lexan in particular, and a multitude of plastics that just don't fit in categories 1-6...including some that are plant-based.

Nice.

Damm. That bites. But you'll recover, and she'll look even better.

Fascinating kit. A new one on me, but it looks like it has potential to be a knockout.

VERY nice roofline on this.

Loving this thread. I have a couple of these to restore, and a couple of virgins to build. The history of these trucks is fascinating to me, and seeing you guys building different incarnations is too. Always something to learn on this site. Thanks.

Styrene can be recycled multiple times, as many as 20, and still retain its properties. Recycling of styrene foam products can be problematic as the volume to transport is very large for the amount of plastic recovered; it's mostly air. However, there are more options for polystyrene recycling than many people are aware of. My local market, for example, has receptacles for both plastic shopping bags, and separate ones for styrene packaging. More efficient and profitable ways of recycling the stuff are under constant development. Here's more factual info re: styrene recycling. https://youknowstyrene.org/green-styrene/recycling/ https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/polystyrene-recycling.htm

Most Fujimi wheel sets list a nominal size right on the package. See below. L to R: 19", 18", 17", 17". They're also scaled to 1/24. A little simple arithmetic will tell you the wheel diameter at the tire seat.

I kinda doubt consumer goods will be much affected by an enforced reduction in packaging and other "disposable" plastic stuff. They're not going to be making car interiors and phones out of walnut shells anytime soon, and probably not scale models either.

You mean like Paris and San Francisco now?

An absolute knockout. 100% table grade (contest table, that is). Everything crisp, clean, and in the right place to do what it's supposed to do. Always inspiring to see work like this. When they look this real, they're at the top of the pile.

Opinions vary. There are factory pix from 1970 showing a twin-plug head, and the '73 catalog shows them with a Mopar Performance part number. Intended as a race head, though people have run them on the street.

Yup, should work fine if it really IS high-impact polystyrene. It MIGHT be a little more solvent-resistant than what you're used to in current kits, but it can still be assembled using solvent-type plastic glues, epoxy, and CA. The specific plastic formulation (and there are MANY that come under the "HIPS" moniker) will determine the exact degree of solvent resistance. Some early Johan kits, for example, though molded from "high-impact polystyrene" are difficult to glue, and require the hottest of the solvents (or epoxy) to get a lasting bond. HIPS filament-printed parts are one kind of output from some 3D printers, and they also can be assembled with the familiar solvent-type glues.