[DML] Re: Need help (Minimalist DeLorean Electrical System)

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Without starting a flame war Re: British Automobiles...

DeLoreans also fit comfortably into a major paradigm shift in domestic
auto manufacturing that occurred at the same time (1980 onwards). For
three and a half decades following WW II, vehicles were basically over
engineered. Every system on the car (cooling, electrical, lubricating,
etc) left the factory with significantly greater capacity than needed,
to accomodate inevitable deterioration from impure fluids, leaded
gasoline, pourous filter media, crude electricals, etc. Was not
uncommon for those systems to be operating at 33%-50% of original
design spec at the end of their service life.

Plastic manufacturing also did not come into its own until the late
70's (that's why earlier cast components are made of white metal --
imperfect but still longer lasting than plastic).

Add to this general inertia from not re-engineering designs that
pre-date the two fuel crises, and you end up with cars that are
basically bullet proof on today's fluids & filters. Those of us loudly
trumpeting our vintage steeds need to remember that they might not
operate as well if we weren't running them in a 2005 maintenance
environment.

DeLoreans rode the wave of "new" engineering, now perfected in Saturns
et al. Every system on the car is designed to operate within narrow
tolerances. Items previously made of metal (such as bumpers and
grilles) are now made of plastic. Ditto for interior fittings. In fact
much of the car is designed to be "clipped" together rather than
screwed or bolted. And the fasteners that are used tend to be 20%
smaller (for 35 years 3/8-16" was the American standard -- basically
analogous to 10mm). 

It is no more realistic to expect a 1981 DeLorean to continue
operating without significant maintenance demands than it is to expect
a 1983 Escort or a 1985 Cavalier not require the same.

Bill Robertson
#5939





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