Return to the BUILD
“With this issue, you can make the spare tire for your DeLorean, then fit it into place and add the windshield wipers.”
Contents
Parts
Materials: The Tire is hard rubber, the Wheel Body is metal, and the rest of the parts here are plastic.
Magazine
- Drive Time: Model Instructions
- Back to the Future: The Ride – The Ride of Your Life
- A Time Traveler’s Guide: Ken Ralston
Build
Spare Tire
Step 1
Carefully push the Wheel Body down into the Tire:
I compared the condition of both sides of the Tire and pushed this through the ‘worse’ side so it will be hidden:
Step 2
Fit the Wheel Center (110B) into the Wheel Body, aligning the three posts and holes.
Before I add the Wheel Center, I want to add the Spare Tire Cover mod from Bill Will Green. This is pre-painted molded polystyrene piece that resembles the real DeLorean ‘bicycle’ spare:
In order to use this cover, we first want to remove the white wall lettering on the opposite side or ‘good’ side of the Tire that we just pushed the Wheel Body into. These types of spares are almost all ‘black wall’, so this is more accurate. Bill provides small wipes that easily ‘erase’ the lettering:
Next, we want to pull the tiny valve stem out of the Wheel Center. I used a set of tweezers for this and you may need to ‘poke’ it out from the back:
Now, we can fit the Wheel Center to the Wheel Body, aligning the three screw posts inside:
Step 3
Turn the wheel over and secure these parts together with three (3) BP screws:
Steps 4-5
Drop the Washer into the center of the Wheel Center (110B). Push the Wheel Centre (110D) into the center of the wheel.
This wheel will never be mounted, so not sure why we need this Washer or Wheel Centre. And, the instructions incorrectly refer to the Wheel Centre as part 110F. It doesn’t matter to me as I did not use either part.
Instead, I continued with the Spare Tire Cover mod installation. There are eight (8) pre-installed foam adhesive blocks on the back of the cover. I removed the backing paper from each, and pressed the cover onto the chrome Wheel Center aligning the wheel bolts:
Steps 6-8
- Retrieve your DeLorean and open the hood to expose the trunk.
- Loosen the strap that will hold the spare tire in place, if necessary.
- Slide the spare wheel into place inside the strap, as shown:
Step 9
Pull the strap tight to secure the spare wheel:
I have been hanging on to this mod for months and the time has finally come to install the final piece of it! This is the trunk foam insert and metal tools part of the Bonnet and Trunk Carpets mod from Mike Lane. It fits perfectly around our new spare wheel and adds even more detail to the trunk!
Windshield Wipers
Step 10
Push the pin of a Windshield Wiper into each of these two holes below the Windshield.
These wipers are identical, so it doesn’t matter which one goes where:
And here it is with the hood closed:
Spare Engine Belts
There are two extra parts included in this issue that are NOT mentioned in the parts list. These two black rubber bands are provided to replace the original engine belts, if needed. There are many builders who have had their original belts disintegrate and/or break so these were added to the parts inventory at some point. My original belts are still OK, plus it would be tricky to get into the engine bay to put these on anyway. Still, if your engine belts have broken, this is your solution:
Thoughts
I think the trunk looks pretty realistic for what we have to work with. On the real DeLorean, the spare tire would be really narrow and sit lower in the trunk, but we can work around that. It is also worth nothing that the only thing left to build on our model is the rear reactor platform deck and we will be finished!
Next Up
Issue 111 – Reactor: Platform, Components