DeLorean Oil Change

The weather has been unusually warm this year for it being December. I have been able to drive the DeLorean a lot later in the year than I anticipated. I decided that I would change the DeLorean's oil. It had been around 21 months since I last changed it, but in that time, I have only driven it around 700 miles.

It is very easy to change the oil on a DeLorean. I use ramps that I back onto to lift the rear of the car.

I have a square socket that I use to loosen the oil plug. I take a gallon milk jug and cut it so that it will help catch the oil as it comes out without getting on the frame or anywhere else. It works beautifully. I use the same milk jug under the oil filter so that all of the oil drips cleanly into the oil collector and not on the car.

I let the oil drain for a long time since I am usually not in a rush. Quite a bit more oil comes out after I remove the oil filter, so don't put the plug back in without first having removed the old filter.

In the picture above, you can see the black on the engine block where oil from past oil changes has been. I am able to avoid that by using the milk jug under the filer as I remove it. After replacing the filter, I then reinstall the plug using a new copper washer that comes with the filters I purchase from any of the DeLorean vendors. I buy a pack of 6 filters at a time to reduce the per filter price.

New oil is poured in on the left side of the engine. I use a long funnel to help eliminate splashing or dripping, like in the picture below:

I have used 10w40 and 10w30 conventional in my car with great results. This last time I went with 10w30 because I won't hesitate to drive it when it's really cold outside as long as there isn't any snow or salt on the roads. My car also seems to take a bit more oil to get it to the full line on the dipstick. Others seem to put 7 quarts of oil, but mine takes closer to 8 quarts. Not sure what would cause mine to be different.

Clean up is really easy. I simply trash the milk jug and the empty oil filter. I take the oil to my local auto parts store for disposal/recycling and wipe everything down. Simple as that!

Non-DeLorean Eventful Year

Since my son was born last September, I have done little to nothing with my DeLorean. Priorities change very quickly when kids arrive as there always seems to be something to do. We haven't been in any parades and we only have participated in one car show this year in my home town. Here's my adorable son sitting in the car at the show:

Unfortunately, during that one show, the canopy that I had set up for shade got ripped off of the ground by an out-of-nowhere gust of wind and blew it into the 1941 Ford parked next to me and put two small dings on it.

I felt so horrible, but at the same time, was grateful that the canopy didn't damage my car, even though it did hit both of our cars. I snapped a pic of the two cars as the show was about to end:

 

My auto insurance, both daily driver and collector car, wouldn't cover the damage to his car because none of my cars caused the damage. The cost to repair the damage was $1,200 because the trunk and rear quarter needed to be removed, repaired, then painted in addition to the pin striping being redone on his trunk. 

The guy's insurance ended up covering the damage and he asked me to pay his deductible, which was $500. That was one expensive car show!

I have rarely driven the DeLorean since 2013 as it is only a two seater and my family now consists of more than two people. In addition to the new member of our family, we also moved into our newly built house in 2013 and this year we finally did our own landscaping, sprinkling system, curbing, and grass. That was a multi-month project that didn't allow for any car time.

I have also been traveling much more frequently for work than in years past. I have seen some pretty neat things in my travels:

Milwaukee:

Las Vegas multiple times:

Dallas multiple times:

 

Houston:

San Antonio:

Honolulu: 

Austin multiple times:

Detroit multiple times:

And many other places that weren't interesting enough to take even one picture. Travel should be slowing down this fall, so I may have time to spend with the DeLorean. After all, it is just a car and not my #1 priority.  Hopefully more to come soon.