VIN 7176 - ULB 248W, or is it?!

[Stuart Rees]

There is another option to have a dateless Northern Ireland plate, I've been looking to get one myself but there is obviously another transfer charge involved. Just had a quick look and you could get a vin related number (### 7176) on your car for under £200, but it totally depends on your budget.

[bozzzydmc]

Yes it does seem a little odd they are saying that now, still good thing is I suppose its registered and well on its way to being on the road...

BTW ....here abouts were you thinking of getting your plates made up ?

[jerzybondov]

I was probably just going to go for a US style on the rear- http://www.platemyride.com/sim_usa.php, and then have a normal front number plate hiding in the car somewhere.

I did just have a look on the off chance I could get a Northern Irish plate with DMC 7176 - hah, fat chance! Best out of the remainder was OUI 7176 for £250. Good if I lived in France...

[bozzzydmc]

I just missed out on MBZ 2001... that was going for only £149 4 years ago...

[A Van]

Quote:As for the C-reg car, maybe it's something to do with having been a Middle-Eastern car, it's date of first registration was later? Or perhaps whoever filled in the form over here when it got imported filled it in wrong...

That car is Vin 11761 definitely a Middle Eastern car, belongs to Ken Henderson in NI and I think still for sale.

I dont want to go into too much detail as otherwise there wont be any point in writing an article....but I know for a fact some unsold ME cars were shipped back to the UK and sold at auction around 85/86.
As the car was unregistered and brand new, and just shipped in..someone at the DVLA must have decided to go by the current year reg rather than build year.

[Guinney1971]

as someone who deals with DVLA every day as part of my job, I get the impression that they
just make it up as they go along.... :roll: :roll: :roll:

[jerzybondov]

Off to Canvey Island shortly to pick up 7176 in its new guise of a D that looks and drives respectably! Chris hasn't quite finished on the car yet (brakes, headliners, the odd dent still need doing) so I'll be dropping it off with him again after the weekend, but 500 miles around the country should be interesting!

Pics on Tuesday when I get back :-)

[Tourettes Tony]

what time you getting there mate il pop over TT

[mec]

Hi Jez

hate to rein on your parade but i poped down th chrises yesterday and had a sneak preview of your car !!! looking very nice matey ! hope you have fun this weekend !

mike

[jerzybondov]

Sorry Tony, logged on to post and then had to run out the door! I was there from about 11.15-12ish. Felt guilty about keeping him away from work though! Car is great - full report and pics when I've got some more time...

Question I've got for those of you with working speedos. Can anyone give me a speed for 2500rpm and 3000rpm in 5th so I know what I'm doing on the motorway?! I reckon 2500 is about 70 but it's hard to tell

Mike - Chris mentioned you'd popped by the day before and held him up from working on my car lol. Are you any closer to sorting your fuelling problem?

[mec]

Hi jez

yea sorry about that i was there for a while ! i havent had a chance to have another look at the car since i got back from chris's but i am going to bid of a gas analizer on ebay which ends in two days so that should allow me set the system up properly hopefully !
how did you like your car did it all run ok ? what exactly have you had done so far and whats left to do ? i know you gota get the wheels and the headlining done is there much else left ?
it looks great so far ! and your really jammy geting that mint condition dash top !!! i need one of them ! :lol: :wink:

mike

[TheOriginalMrP]

This will give you an idea mate. I made this for Dan when his speedo wasnt working.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obFyRhIw7aU

Ben

[Tourettes Tony]

jerzybondov Wrote:Sorry Tony, logged on to post and then had to run out the door! I was there from about 11.15-12ish. Felt guilty about keeping him away from work though! Car is great - full report and pics when I've got some more time...

Question I've got for those of you with working speedos. Can anyone give me a speed for 2500rpm and 3000rpm in 5th so I know what I'm doing on the motorway?! I reckon 2500 is about 70 but it's hard to tell

Mike - Chris mentioned you'd popped by the day before and held him up from working on my car lol. Are you any closer to sorting your fuelling problem?

3200 rpm is 80 on my speedo which is bang on the sat nav so its around that figure, sorry i missed you but i had some reliving my youth to do on my bike TT

[jerzybondov]

So, Friday morning I headed across to Canvey Island to pick up the D for it's first real drive in the UK (discounting the snowstorm mission picking it up from Southampton).

Turned into Charfleets estate and was looking out for Gradys - the sight of those 4 rectangular headlights down the side road tells me where I need to go! I get closer and admire the D in front of the workshop. A nice looking one, I think. Then it occurs to me. Chris knows I'm coming - perhaps this one is mine? It doesn't look much like the one I left at his house a couple of months ago... but still...

Chris is fiddling on the car, a dozen last minute jobs getting sorted out. The absence of any number plates confirms it. Yep, it's 7176. New exhaust on, ticking over sweetly. Well, between 750 and 1000rpm sweetly

There hasn't been quite enough time to get everything done on the car so there are still some things to sort - dent on driver's door, fuel gauge, speedo not working. Headliners, rear shocks still to be fitted. But it looks great. The stainless is SO much better than when I left it with him. And Chrispy's front springs make a big difference too. The absence of fuel gauge means there's a slightly more manual approach to checking the fuel level - pull off the top of the tank and have a look inside!








So I give Chris the rear number plate, he whistles it on, we put all our stuff in the D (fitted with ease) and set off for the long drive up to Wigan. First impressions are that the car goes a lot better than it did when I first got it off the boat. The exhaust makes itself heard, sure, but it actually accelerates now instead of feeling downright sluggish like it did before.

Unfortunately Good Friday isn't the best day to travel - especially when 5 minutes into the journey it starts to rain torrentially, and not let in for the next 6 hours... So the journey up to Wigan was more of a journey to get done than one to savour. When you're in solid jams half the way, the fans don't work (dodgy mode switch), it's fully pissing it down and your left leg gets rather tired on the clutch it's not as much fun as it might be! Still Hannah was happy enough with her knitting...




Most amusing moment (although I confess to getting mildly stressed at the time) was attempting to exit the petrol station above and finding that I couldn't round the pump and clear a transit van parked in front of the shop with the supertanker-esque turning circle of the D. I'd need to reverse. However (and Chris had warned me about this) reverse was tricky to find due to an iffy gear cable. I discovered that it was indeed tricky to find, as car after car built up behind me as I repeatedly found 2nd instead of reverse and edged closer and closer to the transit. I thought I was going to end up ramming the van, with a group of irate petrol getters behind me.

Just as I was about to get out of the car and ask some random people to help me push it backwards, I discovered the knack of finding reverse. Pull f**king hard towards you and then slot it back. Thank God. Quick manoeuvre and I was out of there.

Next mini drama on the way up was discovering that the brakes were almost as effective sending the car sideways when applied reasonably hard as they were slowing it down. Once I'd found this out it was just a question of expecting it and compensating for it, although it did mean I'd leave a rather hefty safety gap between me and the car in front. New Greenstuff pads and DOT5.1 fluid going on imminently though so this won't be a continuing problem!

Still, reached Wigan at 6pm and all was good.

Next day, a trip across to Dave Howarth to pick up some bits for my car and some bits for Chris. I am now well versed in the histories of Dave's various 3 D's! Had a good nosy at his RHD 3 miler too - he thinks he'll be putting some real miles on it fairly soon. Interesting stuff!

[jerzybondov]

Sunday involved a trip down to North Wales to see the family. Took the D out with my brother and had a good chance to explore the car a bit better on some of the A-roads around there (see the handling thread). Only 5 mins after leaving the house though experienced something I've managed to avoid for the 14 years I've been driving - accelerated up to 70mph, just as a pheasant flies out from the hedge and starts to walk across in front of the car. I brake as hard as I dare (without sending myself off the road) but there's no way to swerve around it. Only a second later - BANG. The pheasant bounces hard off the fascia and over the roof.

We pull the car over and examine the damage. Fortunately the only damage is a broken plastic clip that holds the inner headlight cup against its mounting, but it has resulted in the headlight dangling out and scratching the fascia surface slightly.

Managed to find a couple of clever threaded plates that evening though so headlight was re-attached and no real harm done.

Monday morning - get locked out. See my thread on that too!

Once that was sorted it was time to get out the WD40 and get some proper pics. She shined up a right treat - Chris has done a great job!










Monday night, time to drive back down to London again and the car was faultless. Oh, apart from repeatedly locking me in (iffy linkage) so I'd have to reach out of the window with the keys and operate the lock from outside whilst playing with the handle to let myself out! Of course, when I dropped the car back off again with Chris last night, the problem had completely evaporated.

Parked it back up in London Monday night and realised just how much lower and wider it is than just about everything else on the road. Brilliant. Apart from on tight streets over speed bumps :lol:



So now it's back with Gradys getting the last few bits sorted - will no doubt see everyone at Eurotec and you can check it out in the flesh then!

NB: More photos (including ones from when I picked the car up at Southampton) can be found here: www.chromeproductions.co.uk/delorean