Re: [DML] Ball joint failure

["cbl1739" <cbl302@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Except in the case of my Donor car,Which was a Brand New Delorean(one 
month old)So wear and tear(age) had nothing to do with it,from what I 
was told,when I was trying to see about trying to make it Legal to 
register(title)when I called Mass MVD(1983)they knew the car,and said 
that the Insurance company told them to destroy the title(and one vin 
tag,was turned in,(the dash one)and at the time gave me the name of 
the insurance company that insured the Delorean,and they gave me the 
full story on the car,and the investigation,which determined that it 
was a Ball joint failure at high speed,and since there was a fatality,
(not in the Delorean,but the car it hit head on)they wanted to make 
sure that that particular Delorean never saw the highways again as a 
driving car.(they did not like the multi-million dollar payoff to the 
other party)Also the info was given to DMC,which if I remember right 
had to do with using the wrong nut on the ball joint,or something 
like that,but had to do with either the nut fracturing or ball joint 
slipped off the nut(it was so long ago)Anyway from looking at the 
remains of the suspension(when i owned it)and the way the nose was 
shred off,I would have had to agree with the insurance 
company.Outside of the damage at the time the car was super clean,and 
if you ever sat in a "Brand New" Delorean it had that new smell,that 
I have NEVER smelled in any car but a Delorean,(and has forever stuck 
in my head)I have sat in used Deloreans,low mileage Deloreans,but 
none have ever held that new "Delorean freshness",that was one of the 
reasons, why I wanted to restore it.The NICE part was when I took it 
apart,all rivitnuts came off with EASE,(no snappers or spinners)all 
bolts were pristine,things unglued with ease,IT WAS actually a 
pleasure to dissemble(sad but pleasurable)If you have ever taken 
apart a new car(any car) you will know what I am talking about.Then 
to lift off the Black body,and see a NEW Mint frame(damaged but Mint)
is something to behold(instead of the shock of seeing a rotted 
frame,as with what happens to most people when lifting off a black 
body)I had put a date on the frame with a black marker,I think 
11/11/83 or 84,which could have made me one of the first private 
persons to lift a body off a DMC.
Anyway someone STATED how I acquired so many Parts,that is Simple,I 
started with Deloreans in 1982,I always scanned papers for Delorean 
parts,I put adds in for "Delorean parts wanted",people would see my 
adds and if they were ANYWHERE in New England,I would drive and 
check/buy their stuff,over the years I saw MANY Burnt Deloreans,some 
just bales of Fiberglass "hair",some "Hail cars",with hail "bumps" 
all over the SS( both wanted to much)underwater ("D") cars,Shells,
strippers,and of course the ones I bought(one was only 2 blocks from 
me at a used car dealership a red Delorean)some as far away as 
Rockford Ill.In fact I had even gotten a call from someone in the 
shoreline area of Connecticut,that had a TAN interior sliding windows 
car,which like a idiot I never went to see,but talked to the owner on 
the phone for awhile,and he claimed it "came that way"(this was about 
1985-86)Which in the late 1990's a friend on Vacation in New 
Hampshire claimed he actually,found one on a trailer(and looked at it)
in someones back yard,that again had sliding windows,but could not 
remember the interior color,in a little hick town,called Bennington 
or something like that,again didn't check that one either.Who knows,I 
found a Few Deloreans,by pure accident,that is how I came across 
00570. Please check out a web site called "carsinbarns" and you will 
know EXACTLY what I am talking about.Some of the most prized cars are 
there just waiting to be discovered and restored.Who knows what YOU 
might discover,by accident.Vin 501? who knows.
CBL  



--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Stephen M. Jones" <smj@xxxx> wrote:
> Dani -
> 
> I don't think there has ever been a case of a lower ball joint 
going at
> high speeds.. its always been from turning from a stop, which is 
when 
> you'd have the most stress on part.  My left hand side went at about
> 4:30 in the morning in a grocery store parking lot.  fortunately it 
only
> kicked out the lower end of the tire and did no damage to anything 
else.
> 




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