Re: [DML] Zilla Says Howdy to All + Walt

["Walter" <Whalt@xxxx>]

Bob,

Sorry to take so long to respond to your e-mail. I'm not ignoring you; I
just haven't had time to get online in several days. I'll call you within
the next few days as you asked.

I'm glad you finally crawled out of the wood work. Your products have made
you quite a celebrity, and I'm glad you and Rob Grady are contributing to
the DML (finally :-)

Rob called me a few days ago and we talked for quite a while about the
Tankzilla. I feel so important now :-) I rewarded him with placing an
order for more parts since I already had him on the phone.

Technical writing is a science in itself, and I suppose I wasn't too clear
about my posting regarding the problems I had with the Tankzilla. I in no
way intended to bad mouth it. And given a choice between buying a perfectly
working Tankzilla vs buying a defective one and fixing it, I prefer to deal
with a defective unit. I'm nutty that way, but I just love a good technical
challenge. Besides, the vendor I bought it from (DMC Joe) told me to just
goop it up with Form-A-Gasket. He didn't offer to send me a replacement. I
could have asked for a replacement, but that wouldn't have been as much fun
:-) Besides, I'm suspicious that most of the senders in that batch were
leaky anyway.

The problem with the leak was not caused by the rubber seal. The unit
leaked between the top metal disk and the centering ring which is spot
welded in place (this is the ring that Rob said had part of it machined away
to make it fit the DeLorean fuel tank.) He suggested that evidently the
process of machining away part of the ring caused the gap between the metal
pieces where it leaked. I think the gap was a natural variation due to the
original manufacturing process. Anyway, according to Rob, the original
application used a seal with a shoulder on it. But this seal wouldn't fit
the DeLorean fuel tank, so y'all made your own. If the unit sealed
properly, then the gasket you made would probably work fine, but with fuel
leaking through the gap and continually washing over the gasket, it caused
it to harden. Rob said that he is working on having new seals made that are
more tolerant to fuel exposure. If the gasket was larger than the centering
ring and fit around it then it wouldn't matter if the gap was there. The
gasket would cover it. But since you made the gaskets fit under the ring
instead of around the ring, then the gap was exposed and leaked. I imagine
that earlier units didn't have enough gap to be a problem or else the
gaskets that you made at that time were made of a more spongy material that
would fit both under and around the centering ring sealing any part that
could leak.

Well, I've probably gotten too technical again... and if you can make any
sense of what I said, then you are a good reader. I had quite a time trying
to explain all this to Rob over the phone. He even had to put me on hold
while he grabbed a Tankzilla out of inventory to see what I was talking
about.

I took pictures of it while I made my fixes, so I'll go on and get that
developed and send both you and Rob copies.

About your comment concerning an earlier post I made about the Lockzilla --
the comment that I should fix my door lock mechanism and then there would be
no need for over-engineering the Lockzilla. Yes, you got me on that one.
I'm behind in too many projects already. I have more projects started than
any normal person can finish in a lifetime. It's a good thing I'm not
normal! I have figured this out though: In order to tell if both of my
doors locked successfully, I can press the remote button twice. If the
locks click a second time then it means they are still synchronized and
presumably working properly -- unless both solenoids only just barely moved
the first time. My car still has this problem intermittently! So a feed
back over-engineered Lockzilla isn't such a bad idea in my opinion. Until
then I just press the lock button twice and listen for the second click.
Besides, all door lock solenoids will eventually fail if given enough time.
So when that does happen again (maybe in a few years, maybe 20 more years,
maybe never) I want to know when it does happen so I don't accidentally
leave my car somewhere unattended with an unlocked door.

Let me know when you get the door launchers perfected. I want a pair!
Also, I want the trunk opener too. If it is going to be much longer before
you perfect the door launchers, can you go on and offer just the trunk
opener? I could really use that.

Also about the door launchers, I'm worried that if the door is allowed to
just pop open, then new struts in hot weather may allow the door to bounce
open too hard and damage something. Have you come up with a solution for
this? Perhaps some sort of dampening spring somewhere? Since the door
struts are custom made just for the DeLorean, perhaps y'all can start having
them made with dampening springs to soften the blow when they reach their
maximum extension. If something isn't done about that, I just might start
making struts myself. They would be nitrogen charged gas struts that could
be re-gassed just like a shock absorber. There would be a schraeder valve
somewhere just for this purpose.

What do you think? I've been itching to set up a lathe in my shop again.

Now discussions like this is what I think the DML should be about. The
people who like to design and trouble-shoot should get everything out on the
table and try to make state-of-the-art products to keep these cars running.
I wouldn't be too worried about loosing trade secrets to any competition.
Everyone should realize that at most around 10,000 DeLoreans were made. Of
these, how many people are going to buy your product? It would certainly be
far less than 10,000 units. To me, keeping these cars running is a hobby.
I understood all of what the Fanzilla was about. I thought that it was a
lot of money for what I got. But comparing it to a similar module for a new
car -- it really isn't that expensive in comparison. My main complaint is
that I could build something similar for a lot less, but then to make it
work is another story. I have bought all the Zilla products with the
exception of the new tail light boards. I still might build some equivalent
modules from scratch just because I enjoy it. But then my energies should
be turned to solving other problems instead of re-inventing the wheel --
like you said. I also bought an early version of John Hervey's Fan Fix. I
looked over both of them and decided I liked the Fanzilla better. Although
they both have their strengths and weaknesses.

The Fan Fix if done by the gospel according to John, should have the fan
power routed away from the main power relay. This together with a decent
sized alternator (that John also sells) will lessen the shock of having the
compressor and both fans switch on/off simultaneously.

The Fanzilla solves the shock problem by sequentially turning on the
compressor and each radiator fan separately and then switching them back off
again all separately.

Perhaps the best fix would be a combination of these two. Re-route the fan
power around the main relay and stage the loads. But for now, the Fanzilla
is in my car, and John Hervey's Fan Fix is sitting in a tangle of wires on
the back of my work bench. Sorry John. But again, this tangle of wire is
one of his early versions and not what he is selling now.

Also a plug for John is that I have one of his earlier 140 amp alternators
in my Delorean, and it works great! The only problem is that the pulley
didn't allow the belts to line up right. The pulley was 4mm off from where
it should have been for the DeLorean. I ended up making a new adjustable
alternator bracket from scratch. What a job that was! But then I enjoy a
technical challenge. If any of you have changed your alternator with any
replacement, take a close look at your belts and make sure they fit
perfectly. A little bit crooked will cause the belts and even some bearings
to wear out quicker.

At a previous Delorean meeting in Orlando, I noticed a guy that had a
mechanic put is idler pulleys on wrong. The belts were so crooked that I'm
surprised that they didn't fall off!

Walt Tampa, FL