# 1/14 delorean mods and improvements



## steveo3002

hey all , im steve from england

been working on this a while now , its a diamond select 1/14 scale delorean from the back to the future movie

its not a bad toy , but under closer inspection theres alot to be improved and i like to tinker with stuff

heres some pics , i might be back with some questions on lighting later:thumbsup:

here the body had molded on wiring ,ive sanded it all off and will add real cables









flocked carpets with self made mats










lots of added detail to the dash and real wires added










remade the rear vents with thinner styrene










used the scriber tool to improve the grille


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## steveo3002

bodywork coming along, the big groove from the toy is filled in now










then added the vent detail on the pillar with my scribe tool










vent at the rear opened up










front bumper area was a nightmare , totaly wrong so lots of cutting and scratch making parts




























toy battery compartment cut out for more space , hood hinges removed and will now be held on with magents


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## harristotle

Man this is sweet! I love projects like this :thumbsup: do you have any before pictures?


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## steveo3002

not really ..i just raced in and roared into it

im taking some befores for all the new stuff im doing , you can see the complete cars on google..its pretty much like a decent kids toy quality out of the box , poor fit on all the panels , incorrect or sloppy details etc


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## steve123

That looks cool! very nice work!

Steve


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## steveo3002

this doesnt look so much but its hours of work, the doors fitted very badly sticking out here n there and there was a crude molded clip /catch to hold them shut

ive spent hours sanding and removing material to make them close , and ive sunk 4mm magnets into the plastic so they snap shut

after this work the door rub strip didnt line up and was a poor molding anyway so i removed that , then some bondo to make the door shape like the real car










once its nearly ready i will stick on a new styrene 1mm door strip in one piece so its all straight


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## 71 Charger 500

That is a LOT of work on that car but it sure is coming together nicely! 

Mo


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## steve123

It's all going to be worth it.

Keep sending in pics when you have time!

Steve


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## steveo3002

heres a couple of pics of the movie car , notice it has a towing frame in the front bumper ? well its visible in most of the movie so i figure i need that lol



















made one up from styrene box section



















heres a close up on the doors...the toy had painted on locks , i drilled a hole then chamfered the edge , the lock is the head of a clothes pin :thumbsup:


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## steve123

Very cool, And again, wonderful work.

Steve


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## Griffworks

Have you given any thought to building another DeLorean as we saw in Back to the Future? I know there are some models/toys out there of Doc Brown's version of the car, but don't recall anyone ever scratchbuilding the details for a stock DeLorean kit. 

Nice job thus far! :thumbsup:


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## steveo3002

this will have the part II movie car parts , thinking back a stock delorean would have been nicer/easy to make , but this has taken me nearly a year so there wont be another lol


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## Griffworks

D'oh! I totally missed your in original description that this was a BttF Delorean. I thought it was a straight kit of the Delorean. 

Mea culpa. 

Regardless, I think the accurizing work you're doing is awesome.


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## steve123

More pics! Nice scratchbuilding too btw


Steve


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## steveo3002

had some missing detail at the rear corner 

the swage line is missing and the lower line doesnt line up well as seen here










added some styrene and filler to make the swage line in the side , and made a cut out for the marker lense which i plan to led later



















needs some more detail work , then i will add the rub strip and carve in a new lower line


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## s.moe

Steveo......Hey,, Guy.....All the Hour's of work, that you've put into this build...Along with all the scratchbuilding work...Are really going to pay-off, when it's completed.....
Keep posting Pic's of your W.I.P. for us to see.....:thumbsup:

MOE.


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## Bandit17

Anymore updates on this build? It looks great so far! Can't wait to see more!


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## steveo3002

ive been away from it for a while..working on the door mirrors at the moment but its slow work

update coming soon


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## Bandit17

:thumbsup: Look forward to it!


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## steveo3002

okay another update

slowwwwwwww progress on the door mirrors , as you can see by the pics the original toy mirror is too big and rather poor all round

ive cut it in two , heavily modded it reshaping etc so its close to how it should be , still not finished and i have the other side to do , just painted it quick to check its okay then on with the other side 














































here the corner line was wrong ..filled in and smoothed off 










scribed in a new one in the right place


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## Dyonisis

Very cool! Starting over from a stock Delorean to make a Back to the Future car is easier than trying to correct it a little at a time only to find out that everything is still off in relation to the other parts! :drunk: I'll be watching this one. This is the way to do it - slow, and steady. Slow, and steady wins the race. 

~ Chris​


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## steveo3002

it was a badly made BTTF toy car , ive kinda had to smooth off /remove alot of the features to make it more accurate , then re fit new scratch made parts as i go

heres a stock one , you can see the front bumper all bent at the bottom , was missing behind the "flux" bands , molded on seat belts , molded on side wiring etc and just general cheap toy quality


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## steveo3002

the inner door trims werent so good so ive modded those to make them a little better

here you can see the inner grab handle , its too far toward the rear of the door










i cut it away with my dremel and moved it along and glued it into place



















filled , rescribed the outer line and primer










the upper part of the arm rest was smooth with zero detail , the actual car has switches and a vent here , i scribed some detail in best i could


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## steveo3002

now for the door card ..it was crudley molded as one piece into the inner door frame , this made making the doors close hassle , so i cut away the door frame and door card/trim

heres the orig piece










cut into two peices










frame glued to the door










lots of filler and smoothing to make it all fit together again










new improved door ready in primer


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## Dyonisis

steveo3002 said:


> it was a badly made BTTF toy car , ive kinda had to smooth off /remove alot of the features to make it more accurate , then re fit new scratch made parts as i go
> 
> heres a stock one , you can see the front bumper all bent at the bottom , was missing behind the "flux" bands , molded on seat belts , molded on side wiring etc and just general cheap toy quality


 I understand - I read the description. I'd just be easier to undo all that they've done by restoring to it's original self where you can, then correct where neccessary as you go about doing it, rather than trying to adjust one part at a time while it's still a BTTF future car. Meaning, that if you just correct one thing - you'll have to correct everything at the same time so that accuracy, and scale are correct. I've done resto-mods on cars before only to get to one spot, and figure out that I went too far without guaging scale while doing it. This meant that I had to redo some parts to the proper size. It would be easier to start from a stock Delorean and make your own mods than to correct someone elses' mistakes. It'd go a lot faster that way. If you want to know the easy way to do something - ask a lazy man!  

I take it that you're in Cambridge England - am I right? 

~ Chris​


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## steveo3002

yes cambridge england..

:wave:


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## Bandit17

Looking good, Can't wait to see the finished car!


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## steveo3002

ok here we go

most of this will go unoticed once its painted unless i was to point it all out , but theres a fair amount of work gone in here

all the door edges were built up with jb weld and the sanded back so i have a uniform door gap 

the sides were filed and sanded where the panels werent flush , then bondo /car body filler used where some were too low 

so here we have it , both doors snap closed onto magents , they fit right and have nice gaps 










note the huge door gap here before i got to it


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## steveo3002

first coats of primer


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## Bandit17

It's getting there! Looks good man :thumbsup:


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## steveo3002

first sucessfull mock up on the front flux band , the brackets will be slimmed down once im happy it all fits , every thing is fitted with small pins into holes on the body so it will have some strength once done




























also ordered some neon /e.l wire to try behind these , but i doubt it will be bright enough


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## scottnkat

Cooooool!!!!


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## Bandit17

Nice! :thumbsup:


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## BTTFDMC1984

nice but i would suggest the mesh from a dryer lent trap it would look more correct to the mesh on the movie car


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## steveo3002

yeah im not 100% happy with the mesh ..ive not found anything else that i like so far


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## Dyonisis

I don't know if they make an aftermarket item that you can buy over the counter in this scale. That model is awsome, but I like the original car (BTTF Delorean) the best! You can look to see if there's something like this in the UK, I don't know if you can even get this in the US without looking for surgical mesh, and making it yourself would be monotonous! I don't know for sure, but you can look for finished metal suppliers that cater to special needs. It might even be expensive, but worth finding out. Try looking for something under sheet metal with holes in it, just to see what would come up. Then narrow your search with stainless steel mesh. This would be a step in the right direction. I always use yahoo search, as this is far more comprehensive, and it's been established longer than all the others combined. I hope this will help in some way. 

~ Chris​


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## SteveR

Could anything at Hobbylink Japan be useful?


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## Dyonisis

Why didn't I think of it before? www.micromark.com or - www.walthers.com have mesh that might have what you're looking for.


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## steveo3002

heres how im handling the rear , i made up a set of brackets for the correct width of the bands and drill each to pin to the body this holds them on well and i can remove refit as much as i like until final assembly

once the brackets are fitted bend the wire to suit ..will try and glue the mesh on tommorow




























brackets will be slimmed down once the heavy work is done


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## scottnkat

looks cool - looking forward to seeing more


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## steveo3002

SteveR said:


> Could anything at Hobbylink Japan be useful?


they do have some thats slightly better , but its small sheets and would wind up expensive

plus if i got finer scale im not sure how i would attach it ...any suggestions are more than welcome :thumbsup:


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## Dyonisis

I know that this is the hard way, but couldn't you get a pin vise to drill holes into a thin sheet of aluminum? This would be time consuming, but with a 0.20" diameter bit, or smaller might make all the difference.


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## steveo3002

no that would be beyond my skill level , im sure something exists , its just finding it

ive found stuff buts its out of stock or overseas and shipping is $$$ , just found somewhere with some but its not big enough sheets


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## steveo3002

ok well i took on board whats been about the innacurate mesh and have made new bars ready to accept whatever i find

theyre copper and all soldered together , the diagonal strips will give me something to glue /fix the mesh to 

still searching for some mesh..i did order some from ebay and had to get a refund as it never came 

these bars have taken me hours to get this far ..its hell trying to line them up and solder at the same time , and if you need to tweak them the solder snaps lol


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## jgoldsack

Very nice... I am planning to do very similar with the flux bands on mine.


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## steveo3002

any plans for the mesh?


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## jgoldsack

steveo3002 said:


> any plans for the mesh?


I have some brass mesh and steel mesh that I picked up from http://www.mcmaster.com/#wire-mesh/=h6ap6y

fairly small holes.. square holes tho, not circles... really hard to find that small, though shaver screens might work for your scale, like the remington shavers.


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## steveo3002

best ive found is voyager te004 mesh , but struggling to get some here to try


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## steveo3002

ok at last ive found some suitable mesh in a similar scale , had to import it from japan so it took a while



















on the rear bumper ive fabricated the slots where it had none , this was hard as i didnt any tool fine enough to just file the slots , so i had to build up the long edges with bondo then add the center bars but i got there in the end 

the hacked out square will allow me to drop in a rectangle "tray" to accept the delorean logo ...


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## Dyonisis

*ROCKING!!!* I'm glad that you finally got the mesh. I can't wait to see the Delorean logo in the bumper.

~ Chris​


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## Parts Pit Mike

Seeing this thread a little late.

I have a real Delorean. Let me know if there are any detail pics you need.


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## steveo3002

thanks ..i think im ok for now

if you notice any massive faults on the car please say so , almost everything was wrong or had room to improve


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## Dyonisis

steveo3002 said:


> thanks ..i think im ok for now
> 
> if you notice any massive faults on the car please say so , almost everything was wrong or had room to improve


Much like the MPC models of the seventies!


I got your PM, Steve. PM replied to. Let me know if you want to go this route. If so, I'll get to work on it today.

~ Chris​


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## steveo3002

sure chris if you think you can do something ...i was going to use a decal


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## Dyonisis

Don't do that! What I have in mind will be accurate, and look a lot more convincing that a decal, or sticker will.


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## steveo3002

okay...

will go ahead with the 30x4mm box


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## Dyonisis

OK. It'll be a couple of days before I can get to it - I have a few projects that are going into silicone rubber tomorrow. I have to make this quick - my health is failing me as of lately. 

~ Chris​


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## steveo3002

^ thanks chris look forward to seeing what you come up with

bumper is coming along now

i have the recess fitted and its in first stages of primer


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## scottnkat

nice job on the bumper!


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## steveo3002

okay im getting somewhere , the front flux band is done enough for a mock up , still some fine tuning to go yet

its tested my abilitys to the max really ..i just work on it for a few mins then have to walk away lol


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## StarshipClass

Great eye for details! Looking great so far!


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## jgoldsack

Yes that is really good work. I'm having fits with my 1/24 and the rear bands... had to take time away from it because I was getting frustrated at it.


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## dge467

That is some nice work you are doing there!


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## steveo3002

jgoldsack said:


> Yes that is really good work. I'm having fits with my 1/24 and the rear bands... had to take time away from it because I was getting frustrated at it.


yeah i find i can do do 10 mins here and there and then walk away otherwise i want to smash it or the work gets sloppy


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## Dyonisis

steveo3002 said:


> yeah i find i can do do 10 mins here and there and then walk away otherwise i want to smash it or the work gets sloppy


 I have to do that sometimes so that I can rethink my strategy. This isn't like war where you have someone to tell you what to do. You have to think on your feet, which isn't something you do when you have a commanding officer thinking for you! It also makes it difficult when you reach a rut in the road and there's no practical way around it. It also throws you for a loop looking for answers. Sometimes this brings out the creative process, and some surprising results when you're pushed to the limits of your creative mettle! Unfortunately, I've been tested to the point of insanity with the latest build - I couldn't get my glue to work, so I threw it out! Now I hope that will cure one ill, now I need to cure my resin ills. :freak:

~ Chris​


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## BTTFDMC1984

here is a good place to see some of the details of the car as they are restoring the hero "A" car from the movies 

https://www.facebook.com/timemachinerestoration


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## steveo3002

thanks..that facebook is so hard to navigate , is there a normal website where it can be viewed


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## BTTFDMC1984

steveo3002 said:


> thanks..that facebook is so hard to navigate , is there a normal website where it can be viewed


they haven't hosted a reg site yet here is the link to the photos just click on the album name and it will show all the photos 

https://www.facebook.com/timemachinerestoration/photos


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## steveo3002

almost ready for mesh


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## jgoldsack

Hey steve what do the backs of those band look like? More curious than anything....  Ok I really wanted to see if you did your cross beams from behind, or between the bars....


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## steveo3002

theyre set flush with the back of the bar..so the front has a recess to take the bar


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## Dyonisis

Very cool! I can't wait to see this with the mesh, and painted to match the original car. I'm working on your lettering at the moment. I've had to put the clay in the freezer to make it hard enough to knead, and work with. I have to put the letters into the clay, then make a mould. After the mould is done then I cast this for durability. When the clay gets hot it melts - not viable enough for any other use than making small sculptures. 

~ Chris​


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## harristotle

I'm glad I didn't miss this build from my time away from HT. Still looking great :thumbsup:


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## steveo3002

ok ive been working on the seats

heres a pic i grabbed off google..it shows how theyre one piece with molded in seat belts










ive seperated the base and back rest , sanded away the seat belt and added the piping effect around the edges with 0.3mm wire , then some carefull masking and priming to add those two "stripe" effects which are stitching on the real deal


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## Dyonisis

AWESOME!!! I love the piping effect, as well as the stitching lines on the seats. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you lately. I had to put my life on hold, as well as modeling. I haven't gotten anything done for a while, and I have other things looming over my head for the moment. I'll figure something out soon. I haven't been able to get much of anything done as of late, but working on it a little at a time. I lost my internet connection for the time being, but logging in from the library for the moment. I'll keep in touch when I can. 

~ Chris​


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## steveo3002

no probs..still alot to do yet


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