[DML] Re: Doors Touching and Roof Section Rust (was: Structural Question:)

[Steve <dmc@xxxx>]

The reason I discovered the following problem, was that I removed the roof
T-Panel in order to try and prevent my doors from touching it. I still
have not corrected this problem, but have been told that it is normal for
the rear corners of the doors to slightly touch the inside corners of the
roof T-Panel, and that a lot of cars came from the factory that way.


On Tue, 4 May 1999, DMC Joe wrote:
> The entire roof section is reinforced with steel, the factory refereed to
> this as the "roof cage" or "spider".

On this topic, I thought I'd bring up a problem that I had with my Delorean.
This has been mentioned by Bob Brandys before, you can find it in the back
issues. I was very surprised to find that the above mentioned steel section
was rusting rather badly inside. Especially since my Delorean #17117 was at
about only 10,000 miles and had been garaged and supposedly never driven in
the rain! The only mention of this problem I could find in the back issues
was Bob Brandys' account. He stated that he fabricated a stainless steel
replacement.

I consulted Rob Grady, who stated that he usually re-sealed the cavity and
sprayed body wax inside after removing most of the loose rust using
compressed air and a magnet. Since I did not yet have any appearent
structural damage, this is what I did. (I finally had to order the body
wax as most of the people I spoke to here in Florida didn't even know what
it was)

Appearently my main problem was that the factory did a very poor job of
sealing this cavity, there was very little RTV on the wirelooms running to
the doors, and none of it was in the right place... There are also screw
holes in the steel section for an access panel that never existed, mine
weren't sealed in anyway, thus allowing water into the roof easily.

I'd be interested in hearing other people's comments on this problem,
perhaps other more permanant solutions. (I do plan to replace this
section as Bob Brandys did if I ever find myself removing my doors)

-Steve <dmc@xxxx>
VIN 17117
TAG N0V05 55

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