RE: [DML] Re: Need help

["DMC Joe" <dmcjoe@xxxxxxx>]

Greg,

Your closing paragraph is fairly accurate and reasonable and I am in
agreement with much of what you say. My only concern is that your list may
be misconstrued by potential new owners or detractors of the DeLorean. Based
on that I make the following comments in the defense of the design engineers
and technical directors who staffed the company during its active years.

1. You said "waiting to happen". How many documented instances do you know
of where the electrical system started a fire.

2. You said "same with fuel system". How many documented instances do you
know of where the fuel system started a fire.

3. You said "Escape after rollover can be problematic" do you know of any
owners who have had difficulty escaping their DeLorean's in a rollover.

4. The factory became aware of the front frame extension weakness early on
and subsequently issued Safety Bulletin SC-03-01/82 which included beefed up
doubler plates and hardened fasteners. All other weakness problems are
usually related to corrosion and not design.

5. Trailing arm attachment. The design of this system is used in many other
vehicles. Virtually all of the problems related to bolt failure was a result
of incorrect torque setting of these bolts at the assembly plant. This
problem was addressed in several notices issued to service personal and
owners. Hardened replacement fasteners have been available from most of the
vendors for years.

6. All of the front suspension fastener problems we're corrected by the
factory with the following:
Safety Campaign's 
NOS.RA-001 1/21/82 RA-002
SC-01-1/82
SC-04-12/81
SC-04-11/81
SC-03-11/81
SC-02-11/81
SC-01-11/81

7. I somewhat agree with you concerning the lower links but I wouldn't use
the term "prone". Failures are rare and usually related to corrosion or
collision damage.

In closing this week Ford Motor Company recalled 800,000 vehicles for engine
fires. Effected vehicles go back to the year 2000. If you go to the Office
of Defects Investigation at the NHTSA website you will find thousands of
recalls among automobile manufacturers around the world. Many of the recalls
involve hundreds of fatalities. Check and see how many recalls indicate :
"problem in detachment of steering column........." or "defect in power
brake coupling ....." "hood latch defect can cause hood to fly open at
highway speed causing ........". What about the SUV roll over problems a
couple of years back?

The DeLorean design engineers did an outstanding job in addressing safety
issues in the design of the car. Lutz Feuerabendt, William Charles, John
Patro, Doyle Potter, and Leif Montin, in-turn, did an equally impressive job
in staying on top of safety issues irrespective of mounting problems
throughout the production years.  

Why did it take profitable Ford Motor Company 800,000 vehicles and five
years to take action on a safety problem while the floundering DeLorean
Motor Company made appropriate modifications and notified their customers of
all safety issues within three years at 8500 cars.

DMC Joe  


-----Original Message-----
From: endotex23 [mailto:endotex23@xxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 8:27 PM
To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [DML] Re: Need help




--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Jennifer Moe" <jennymoe4@xxxx> wrote:
>  I am a very new owner and one of the people I work with is
slamming 
> my D.  


Uh, the bias here is a bit tough to swallow. I work in an industry that
defines safety and the comments here reflect both ignorance and a clear lack
of objectivity. "Safe" needs to be defined. Are you refering to
crashworthiness or something else?

Just so you're aware:

1) Portions of the electrcial system are a fire waiting to happen.

2) Same with the fuel system.

3) Escape after rollover can be problematic.

4) Front crumple zone is flimsy and needs to be re-enforced.

5) Trailing arm attachment design and materials used are an abomination.

6) Broken nuts holding front suspension components are a problem.

7) Control arms are flimsy and prone to cracking and failure.

I could could on. The bottom line is the car is reasonably "safe"
as long as the poor design and service bulletins are corrected and complied
with. The somewhat shoddy design and construction, a less than rigid frame
and body coupled with a low design height in today's SUV rich envronment,
and a number of other factors such as inadequate crash padding, poor
visibility, lack of a SRS, etc, make the car not nearly as "safe" as modern
vehicles. A Delorean would likely fail current crashworthiness tests in
nearly every category and the quoted lack of fatalities is nothing more than
a statistical aberration.

I suggest you solicit information from people who have more objectivity than
any of the parties currently involved. It's your life you know.

Greg









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