Hot Toys Back to the Future II - DeLorean - Mods

[SolomonJack]

A few questions.

1. Do you have to unscrew the windshield to remove the under hood power assembly?

2. I've been working on this for two days. It doesn't just lift out. It feels like it is stuck on something in the center of the car under the windshield?

Is it on pegs or something? I followed the screw map but there's either screws I can't see or it's still anchored to something underneath.

3. How exactly do you solder those 2pin wires? I scoured the internet. Nobody just sells them. I got the stuff to make them but I am a beginner at best.

4. These jumpers were not necessary for the mod as it could be completed as it was a matter of switching pegs. Can someone explain to me like I'm five which wires go where on this thing?

I started this thinking it looks straight forward. Looks like I was wrong.

Thanks to everyone who can lend some insight.

 

[MDLAV8R]

A few questions.

1. Do you have to unscrew the windshield to remove the under hood power assembly?

2. I've been working on this for two days. It doesn't just lift out. It feels like it is stuck on something in the center of the car under the windshield?

Is it on pegs or something? I followed the screw map but there's either screws I can't see or it's still anchored to something underneath.

3. How exactly do you solder those 2pin wires? I scoured the internet. Nobody just sells them. I got the stuff to make them but I am a beginner at best.

4. These jumpers were not necessary for the mod as it could be completed as it was a matter of switching pegs. Can someone explain to me like I'm five which wires go where on this thing?

I started this thinking it looks straight forward. Looks like I was wrong.

Thanks to everyone who can lend some insight.

I will be doing this shortly as my Delorean just arrived. Look for JST 2 pin micro male female connectors on Amazon. They’re like $7 USD for a pack of 30 pairs. Get the size from earlier in the thread. EDIT: 1.25mm

For stuff like this, it helps me to start with understanding the existing power flow from where it comes in (USB) to the first circuit board connector to the next to its final destination (lights). It will make a lot more sense having this context vs just following the directions. Just know that there is a circuit board for the switch and a second board with two sections that go to the main lights and the flight lights. I am going to bypass the switch altogether and have all lights (both circuits) come on as soon a I plug in USB.

Stick with it. At these low voltages and because you’re not messing with resistors it is unlikely you will mess things up. Use a multimeter to be sure.

 

[MDLAV8R]

And from your post it looks like you may be missing the 4 screws by/under the windshield wipers. Looks like there are a total of 12 screws you should have laying on the table before you are able to lift off the assembly.

6 on the main top portion of the hood.
2 behind the front DMC grill you have to pull off to get to.
The wipers just carefully lift straight up and off. There are 2 screws next to the wipers and it looks like there are 2 more under the wiper panel after removing those.

 

[MDLAV8R]

Search Amazon for “JST 1.25 mm 2 pin micro”. They will be at the top of the list.

 

[MDLAV8R]

So, I am in progress …

My thought so far is that you need to really want to do this (I do) and to be persistent and take your time. @cdx008’s instructions are spot on.

My issues so far (all minor):

• Front grille (black piece with DMC logo) was difficult to remove
• Hot glue method worked for one side but the other side was a b$&)! to remove - but wiggling eventually worked
• One side of the assembly where the wheel well meets the lower quarter panel had a good amount of paint that basically served as glue (see pic). Learning from the other “easy side” that you need to lift just under the black molding with three fingernails and firmly, but gently pull up was helpful. I got lucky and the surface paint was not pulled off.
• Make sure you have the right tiny screwdriver for the two tiny screws to the outside of the wipers. They are torqued in there pretty good and if you strip the head you’re screwed (see what I did there?)
• The wiring and jumper cable stuff should be pretty easy but I guess like anything else it depends on what you’re comfortable with

I wish Hot Toys could at least consider that some (most?) collectors want to do at least some basic automation and give us electronics that at the very least remember their last on/off/settings state so we don’t have to do this kind of surgery - however fun it is for some of us.

Check out that paint acting as glue.

 

[MDLAV8R]

Took a break and came back to it. As long as I have it apart, I’m going to install a WiFi smart switch relay under the hood that has 2 circuits. One will turn on the ground lighting and the other will turn on the flight lights. It registers just like a double smart outlet in your eWeLink app where the unit has a name (Delorean Switch Module) and the two relays/switches each get their own name (Delorean Ground Mode and Delorean Flight Mode). I have several of these and this will allow me to tell Alexa to “Activate Time Travel Mode” or “Activate Ground Mode” or other creative phrases. Module is $15 USD on Amazon. Attached pics show how I will wire it but instructions are straightforward.

In my use case I am eliminating the existing switch entirely.

Looking at my pic, if you just want all the lights to come on when you plug in USB - just twist the red wires together and the black wires together.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Thank you for sharing all of this great electrical information, MDLAV8R.

 

[MDLAV8R]

Thank you for sharing all of this great electrical information, MDLAV8R.

You bet. Blame/praise @cdx008 for opening the Delorean up and starting all of this fun foolishness.

 

[MDLAV8R]

I now have an Alexa-enabled Delorean. I managed to not screw up the vehicle, injure myself, or wind up with “extra” parts on the table when I put it back together again. As a bonus, there was minimal use of my always nearby box of expletives.

Ground Mode. Flight Mode. Flight Mode Only. Stealth Mode (off).
I removed me saying, “Alexa” to avoid aggravation and possibly activating these functions in your home.

Like it never happened:

Running a line to light up Mr. Fusion that will turn on in Flight Mode. I didn’t want to risk any more surgery so I am just running the wires along the existing wire harnesses until someone else comes up with a better idea. The section under the door doesn’t have any room so I will tuck my wires behind the insulation. I had to drill a very tiny hole under the hood while I had it apart.

There’s actually some space to the left in the wheel well where I can hide the wires with some black tape.
The paint that unintentionally acted as glue has some very minor damage. It looks 1000x worse on pic with flash. I didn’t even notice until I looked at the pic.

Holding up the wires but I think it will look fine once I secure them in place.

Looks like there’s an opening to run the wires through to get to Mr. Fusion. He’ll need a little cutting to fit the LED in. Maybe I’ll just mount the LED underneath and just cut a small opening to let the light bleed in from the bottom.

 

[cdx008]

You bet. Blame/praise @cdx008 for opening the Delorean up and starting all of this fun foolishness.

And down the rabbit hole you go!

 

[cdx008]

I now have an Alexa-enabled Delorean. I managed to not screw up the vehicle, injure myself, or wind up with “extra” parts on the table when I put it back together again. As a bonus, there was minimal use of my always nearby box of expletives.

Ground Mode. Flight Mode. Flight Mode Only. Stealth Mode (off).
I removed me saying, “Alexa” to avoid aggravation and possibly activating these functions in your home.
View attachment 661499

Like it never happened:
View attachment 661494

Running a line to light up Mr. Fusion that will turn on in Flight Mode. I didn’t want to risk any more surgery so I am just running the wires along the existing wire harnesses until someone else comes up with a better idea. The section under the door doesn’t have any room so I will tuck my wires behind the insulation. I had to drill a very tiny hole under the hood while I had it apart.

View attachment 661495
There’s actually some space to the left in the wheel well where I can hide the wires with some black tape.
The paint that unintentionally acted as glue has some very minor damage. It looks 1000x worse on pic with flash. I didn’t even notice until I looked at the pic.

View attachment 661496
Holding up the wires but I think it will look fine once I secure them in place.

View attachment 661497
Looks like there’s an opening to run the wires through to get to Mr. Fusion. He’ll need a little cutting to fit the LED in. Maybe I’ll just mount the LED underneath and just cut a small opening to let the light bleed in from the bottom.

Loving all the additional stuff you did to it. Great idea with the relay. I never really thought of it since I only wanted it in flight mode but I love the write up! It is up to use to make this thing even better.

 

[cdx008]

To clarify the mods, there are two I had.
1. Switch the flight/land mode wires underneath. It’ll require pulling the glue off holding the wires down. Then hot glue or tape down the button in the frunk.
2. advanced method of rewiring and creating new wires to power everything all on and bypassing the digital power switch.

And then @MDLAV8R ’s mod takes it to another level! Impressive stuff

 

[MDLAV8R]

And down the rabbit hole you go!

Yes lol. Isn’t that what always happens? Just one more tweak …

 

[MDLAV8R]

To clarify the mods, there are two I had.
1. Switch the flight/land mode wires underneath. It’ll require pulling the glue off holding the wires down. Then hot glue or tape down the button in the frunk.
2. advanced method of rewiring and creating new wires to power everything all on and bypassing the digital power switch.

And then @MDLAV8R ’s mod takes it to another level! Impressive stuff

Think of mine as really just being 2a - relay option. After you figured out all the hard stuff and took the risk of opening it up - I just added the relays. I wouldn’t have done any of this until being inspired by your thread. Thanks!!!

 

[MDLAV8R]

Other than the Mike Lane Mods interior and hood carpets coming, that pretty much wraps it up for me. I mounted an LED underneath Mr. Fusion and removed some material from the bottom of the white piece to allow the light to come through.

The white button on the table is a momentary switch that plays a 7 minute loop of my favorite lines from the movies through my ancient Creative speaker. The switch is also wired by WiFi relay so I can ask Alexa to “Play Delorean Sounds”. I did this with my 66 Batmobile as well.

The “Tiny TV” on the shelf plays video clips from the first movie.

Happy modding!

 

[Darkside]

Bonjour, puis-je savoir de quel genre de sujet il s'agit ? si vous avez un lien, je l'apprécierais Merci

Je travaillais là-dessus avec la voiture V1. J'ai percé 2 trous dans chaque support pour accueillir le fil.

Fil installé, je n'avais que du jaune à l'époque.

Monté sur la voiture.

Les 2 fils sont corrects, comme le montre cette capture d'écran. Il s'éclaircit puis ressemble à 1 bande épaisse.

J'étais au milieu de tout cela, puis j'ai commencé à construire des véhicules entiers. J'y reviendrai un jour.

 

[Username]

I know the lighting seems to be all up front and no one needs to go to the rear of the car but has anyone opened up the whole thing?

I was hoping to be able to remove the number plate and add a mount like the filming miniature had.
Anyone take the rear end apart yet?

 

[MDLAV8R]

I know the lighting seems to be all up front and no one needs to go to the rear of the car but has anyone opened up the whole thing?

I was hoping to be able to remove the number plate and add a mount like the filming miniature had.
Anyone take the rear end apart yet?

Search YouTube for: Hot Toys Delorean Disassembly and you’ll find a recent video (maybe @Marine Boy based on the channel name?) that shows the most I’ve seen to this point - but he doesn’t touch the bottom or rear of the car. I added an LED to Mr. Fusion (in this thread) but wound up running the power alongside the existing cables on the passenger side because I didn’t see any obvious way to fish them inside the structure of the car and didn’t want to perform any more surgery when that method works for me.

If you go down that road be sure to add here!

 

[Username]

Search YouTube for: Hot Toys Delorean Disassembly and you’ll find a recent video (maybe @Marine Boy based on the channel name?) that shows the most I’ve seen to this point - but he doesn’t touch the bottom or rear of the car. I added an LED to Mr. Fusion (in this thread) but wound up running the power alongside the existing cables on the passenger side because I didn’t see any obvious way to fish them inside the structure of the car and didn’t want to perform any more surgery when that method works for me.

If you go down that road be sure to add here!

I'd never take this thing apart unless i knew it could be done. There was a guy on here who was taking the original one apart back in the day and i seem to recall the job was a nightmare. If some brave soul did it, i'd learn from it. But if no-one tries it, i won't be the first.

 

[hotdogs4humanity]

I know the lighting seems to be all up front and no one needs to go to the rear of the car but has anyone opened up the whole thing?

I was hoping to be able to remove the number plate and add a mount like the filming miniature had.
Anyone take the rear end apart yet?

Been meaning to sign up and post my findings in this thread but just have been busy. I started down that path a few weeks ago but I gave up on going all the way. I used the photos from the guy in the thread for the first Delorean to help me, but I can try to grab some better photos this weekend to post here.

The rear bumper is really easy to remove, easier than the front end. Behind the bumper are 2 more circuit boards, I think one for each mode, and they had empty ports so @MDLAV8R you could use it to get rid of the exterior wiring.

The exhaust vents are just clipped in with big tabs on each side, it feels a bit scary to just pop them off because they need a little force but they should come off without any problems. Underneath the vents are screws. There are also hidden screws along the backside of the rear wheel wells, they are covered by plastic tabs that you have to remove first. I think they pull up from bottom but I will need to check. The first one gave me a little trouble but the second one came out pretty easy, you will just need a really thin pry tool or maybe a good adhesive. After that I think there was just 2 screws on the underside of the bumper.

I don't recommend going any further. When you look inside you can see 2 screw posts, one is under the green tubes and one is under the silver and black things in front of the red capacitors. I was able to pop off the green tubes, they had some adhesive underneath to help hold them down so it wasn't easy. The other side was a total fight and it ended up with me breaking off the whole side of the silver platform, so that was the end of that for me. I was able to make a pretty solid repair so I am not too bummed about it. That's as as far as I got so after those 2 screws I have no idea what comes next.