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“The parts of the DeLorean received in this stage make up the left front suspension, brake disc and caliper, parts that would have had to have been extra strong on Doc’s modified DMC-12.”

Contents

Parts

Materials: All of these components are metal except for the plastic Brake Caliper and Positioning Column.

Magazine

• Drive Time: Model Instructions
• Leading Lady: Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines McFly
• Slicing Through Time: Time Travel Sequence SFX
• Being George: Crispin Glover as George McFly
• A Time Traveler’s Guide: The Flux Capacitor

Build

I had always planned on painting my model to more resemble the real car, especially the unique Delorean chassis. Therefore, I airbrushed all the screw heads in this issue (and from Issue 06) with Tamiya XF-56 Metallic Grey. I also shot the Front Suspension pieces with Tamiya Fine Surface Primer in Light Grey. There is an ‘R’ stamped on one of the pieces so you know which is which. Based on reference photos I found, these choices seemed to be a pretty close match to the colors of the full-size car components:

Left Front Suspension

Step 1

Fit the Lower Link into the gap at the bottom of the Left Front Suspension and secure with two (2) AM screws.

TIP: Since these are the first screws of the build that drive into metal, I want to take a moment to recommend you read my 3-in-One Oil page. I did not start using this oil until much later in my build, but it has made such a difference I came back here to mention it now.

I did not tighten these all the way as I wanted the suspension to be able to move easily. They are a tight fit and should not back out:

Step 2

Pass the Shock Absorber up through the large hole in the Lower Link and secure with two (2) BM screws.

I did not tighten these all the way either. You may notice that the previous screws have moved in the slot. Don’t worry, they will slide back into place during the next two steps:

Step 3

Slide the Coilspring over the Shock Absorber:

Step 4

Squeeze the Lower Link up (compressing the Coilspring) until the Shock Absorber comes up through the hole in the Left Front Suspension. Secure with one (1) EM screw.

This is tricky as I had to squeeze the parts together while putting in the top screw. Notice the lower screws have now slid back down into the correct position by the force of the Coilspring:

Step 5

Place the Control Arm on either side of the Left Front Suspension, align the holes, and fix with two (2) CM screws:

Step 6

With my model, this Left Front Tie Head (steering knuckle/spindle) came painted black. But on the real car this part is aluminum, so I chose to give it a coat of Tamiya X-32 Titanium Silver. These are the spindles from both this issue and Issue 06 (they are stamped with a ‘L’ and ‘R’ so you can keep track of them). If you do paint them, be sure to mask off the magnetic disc in the center of the spindle:

Position the Left Front Tie Head between the Control Arm and Lower Link and secure with two (2) DM screws.

Since this is also a pivot point for the steering, I did not tighten them all the way:

Left Front Brake

Steps 1-2

Slide the Spring over the Positioning Column. Insert the assembly from Step 1 into the hole in the Brake Disc and secure with one (1) DP screw.

The instructions say the Spring is part 5L, but it is really 5I (i). They also call the Brake Disc 5J, when it is really 5F. This spring-loaded pin is what will help hold the wheel in the upright (non-hover) position:

Steps 3a-b

Align the Brake Caliper into the holes of the Brake Disc and secure with one (1) AP screw through the middle hole.

It should be on the same side as the arm where we just attached the parts from Step 2:

Combining The Parts

Steps 1a-b

Hold the Brake Disc assembly against the Lower Link and secure with one (1) DM screw.

This is the hinge that allows the wheel to pivot down into “hover” mode, so I only tightened it until the movement was stiff but smooth. The Brake Disc is what we will mount the wheel to in the future and is held into the upright position by a couple of small, but strong magnets:

Thoughts

I wasn’t sure if I was going to be excited about this issue, but I think it turned out great! The painting is exactly what I wanted. Also, there is definitely a lot more die-cast metal in this model than I expected. This assembly will not be used again until Issue 10, so put it aside in a safe place until then.

I know a lot of other builders have run into the spindle assembly being wobbly/loose once the wheel is mounted. But, in its current form, everything moves very smoothly. If I do experience the same problem later on, I will return to this issue to share a solution.

Next Up

 Issue 06 – Suspension: Front Suspension/Hub (Right)