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“In this [issue] you will fit the air filter and bring the upper and lower assemblies of your DeLorean together for the first time.”

This is one of those milestone issues because we will be connecting the top and bottom of the car together. Some automakers call this step the “marriage”. They even removed the ‘Production Diary’ section of the magazine since there are so many steps. We will take our time and be patient.

NOTE: If you have not tested all of your lighting yet, you may want to check out my Pre-91 Lights Test page before starting to build this issue.

ALSO: I am installing the EL Light Mod from Model Modz as I build my model. There are some changes that need to be made during this issue to include this mod. I will note them where needed. If you are not using this EL mod, you likely can ignore these notes.

Contents

Parts

Materials: Everything non-electrical in this issue is plastic except for the two Panels which are metal.

Magazine

• Drive Time: Model Instructions
• A Time Traveler’s Guide: Drew Struzan

Build

Air Filter and Wiring

Step 1

Fit the Air Filter Base (91B) to the bottom of the Air Filter as shown, and secure together with two (2) BP screws:

Retrieve the Pipe assembly from the previous issue (parts 90G, 90H, and 90I) and fit the keyed post into the matching socket on the Air Filter Base (91C), as shown:

Secure these together from the other side with one (1) AP screw:

Step 2

Fit this Air Filter Base assembly to the first Air Filter Base (91B), aligning the holes over the posts, and secure with two (2) BP screws:

Fit one end of the Pipe over this pin of the Air Filter:

Step 3

Retrieve your chassis assembly and align the three holes of the Air Filter assembly to the matching holes on top of the engine:

Step 4

Make sure the pin on the end of Pipe (90G) fits into this hole of the exhaust Manifold Right (18E):

Step 5

Then, secure the Air Filter assembly to the engine with three (3) IP screws:

Step 6

Connect the free end of the Pipe (91D from Step 2) to this pin of the Oil Filler Cap (21D):

This is a good time to add our last decal from the superb Decal Set III by Mike Lane. This is a correctly scaled (larger) DMC label for the top of the intake and simply sticks over the existing label. Unfortunately, I did not realize I missed it until I had almost finished this issue, but here it is installed now:

Step 7

At the rear left of the chassis, bend the red/blue Wire 22 (part 39E) down through this notch in the chassis.

EL Light Mod change: I did not need and had already removed Wire 22. I put it back in just for the these photos:

Step 8

Turn the chassis over and route this wire between these two posts. Secure it down with a Tab and one (1) KM screw.

EL Light Mod change:  Since I am not using Wire 22, I did not secure it down here. For those who do need it, the pin of the Tab goes in the hole with the arrow and the KM screw goes into the hole circled. This is also your friendly reminder to try using 3-in-One Oil on all screws going into metal:

Steps 9-10

Repeat the same process on the right rear of the chassis with Wire 23 (part 39F) using another Tab and one (1) more KM screw.

EL Light Mod change: I had already removed Wire 23, so it is not pictured here. For those that are using Wire 23, I circled the notch to use to bend the wire under:

Step 11

Make sure all of the unconnected wiring plugs are not tangled and arranged at the edges of the car, like this:

Steps 12-14

Retrieve your body assembly and focus on the underside of the front end. Take the LED Wire (red/blue) from this issue and arrange it so the end with the plug is on the same side as the Wire 9 plug. Carefully push the LEDs on each end through the matching holes in the body and out of the front fenders, as shown.

EL Light Mod change: I only temporarily installed Wire 19 above for the pictures as it is not needed for the mod. Instead we need to feed the blue heat shrink EL harness wire through the right side fender opening, like this:

Step 15

On the outside of the body, bend the LED forward and use one of the Adhesive Stickers to hold it in place:

I did this with the body upside down so I would not have to flip it over again:

Step 16

Do the same with the LED exposed on the other side:

Step 17

Use another Adhesive Sticker to hold down the LED Wire inside the body at the center, as shown.

EL Light Mod change: After I took this picture, I removed this Wire 19, LEDs, and tape. If you are staying stock, keep all of Wire 19 and the tape in place:

Step 18

In preparation for connecting the various wires, position the body assembly next to the chassis assembly, as shown.

I highly recommend you get some help with these next few steps until the body is joined to the chassis. These components are large, heavy, and delicate. I had no such assistance, so I rolled up some bath towels behind the body and underneath it and then propped the body up against them. This actually worked very well; just be very careful with your side view mirrors and fold them in. My side mirrors are magnetic and I popped them off for this issue (see my Mod Zone in Issue 73 for details):

Step 19

Carefully feed the plug of the Orange/Yellow Wire (part 56I – labelled 21) from the chassis up through this notch in the Engine Surround.

This is for the reactor light. The instructions say this is a red/yellow wire, but it sure looks orange/yellow to me.

EL Light Mod change: Wire 21 can be completely removed from the car. Instead, connect the Orange EL wire (with the green heat shrink) to the matching connector of the EL wiring harness (also with green heat shrink) and feed it up through this hole instead. The plug should be able to accessible from the outside of the car.

Step 20

Connect each of the color-coded wires from the roof section to the matching wires at the right side of the chassis.

This includes the following wires, along with their colors and label numbers:

• White/White (#1)
• Orange/White (#2) The instructions say this is a red/white wire, but it sure looks orange/white to me.
• Orange/Orange (#3)
• Orange/Black (#4)
• Blue/Yellow (#7)
• Green/Black (#13)
• Orange/Green (#20) This is for the roof Flux Band LEDs. EL Light Mod change: I did not connect this wire on my model. You can just barely see the unused end of it in the photo below. As a matter of fact, I removed the entire wire after this photo was taken. You may notice the larger red/black wiring with the green heat shrink. That is the power wire for the Reactor EL Light.

Step 21

Wrap the final Adhesive Sticker around these wires (above the connectors).

I used additional pieces of black electrical tape here. The less wiring going all over the place, the better:

Step 22

At the right rear of the chassis, carefully bend these wires up (6, 10, and 11). They will eventually fit through this hole in the body assembly:

Step 23

Begin closing the two assemblies together passenger-side first. While this is being done, there are some tasks to do along the way. First, at the right rear, pull the three wires from the previous step through the right-rear hole in the body and out the back (see photo above).

Next, pull the two wires (9 and 12) at the right front through this T-shaped slot in the body:

Finally, connect the two sets of plugs (9 and 19) at the left front.

EL Light Mod change: Since we removed it already, there is no Wire 19 here so only Wire 9 is connected.

Steps 24-25

Bring the body assembly fully down on the chassis assembly, making sure that no wires are trapped or pinched.

It will take some wiggling, squeezing, and praying to close this up all the way. The body near the wheels may need to be ‘flexed’ out a bit to let the body clear the wheel wells. However, what I noticed caused the most trouble is the plastic interior rear firewall on which the Flux Capacitor is mounted. The top of this panel needed to be pushed towards the front of the car so the roof wiring could fit behind it. You know you have it in place when this panel sits flush against the inside of the roof. Unfortunately, since I was using both hands here, taking pictures during the process was near impossible.

Once complete, you can turn the entire assembly upside down (take care, the model is really heavy at this point):

Step 26

Secure the left side of the body to the chassis with two (2) RM screws.

It may feel like these screws are not long enough, but they are. We just need to squeeze the chassis into the body more:

Step 27

Secure the right side of the body to the chassis with two (2) RM screws:

Step 28

Secure the rear of the body to the chassis with two (2) RM screws:

Step 29

Secure the front of the body to the chassis with two (2) RM screws:

Step 30

At the left rear of the chassis, attach Panel (91E) as shown, with two (2) AP screws.

These Panels have a long tab on them that fits into a groove in the body:

Step 31

At the right rear of the chassis, attach Panel (91F) as shown, with two (2) AP screws.

This side did not want to line up at all and there was a huge gap between the body and this Panel. To fix it, I first added a line of super glue gel to the groove and glued the Panel in place:

Then, I had to slightly bend the plastic mount under the Panel to align the holes and add the screws:

Step 32

If needed, pull the orange/yellow wire (#21) up through the Engine Surround and leave it on top of the Engine Cover.

EL Light Mod change: This is the Orange EL wire (shown below). If stock, this will just be the plug end of Wire 21. In either case, make sure the plug connecting this wire is accessible OUTSIDE the car:

Thoughts

This was a huge and somewhat challenging issue! I feel that this issue (and Issue 48) are two of the largest, most complex issues of the entire build, but it was worth it. Just look at our DeLorean now, it is fantastic! With this issue now behind us, we should be flying through the rest of the issues now and I am getting very excited. Kudos to every builder out there for getting this far!

Next Up

 Issue 92 – Body: Tail Light LED Boards, Engine Bay LED