I'm turning my car into a Delorean!! BTTF (COMPLETE)

justy

Well-Known Member
Update: Completed at last!

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I've followed this site for years and finally joined, I love it. I've built plenty of things over the years and I figured it's high time I documented it well enough to post on here.

I absolutely love the Back to the Future movies and have always wanted the Time Machine, sadly I can't afford a Delorean at the moment. So, I decided to make one. (But hey if anyone wants to donate one I wouldn't turn you down haha:p...)

For now I will make due with what I've got: a 1988 Buick Regal. It isn't a delorean and this is probably a dumb idea, but I'm crazy enough to give it a try. It is 2015 after all and I've wanted to do this for probably 15 years now.

I got started by doing a quick and dirty Photoshop with a picture of the same model just to see if it would look even close.

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The result wasn't completely far off so I moved onto something a little more high tech. I found a similar 3D model on sketchup and merged it with the parts that it needed to look like my favorite fictional masterpiece. From there I figured out the measurements and traced them onto some spare poster board with my projector. I tried to stay fairly close to my original digital guestimations.

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The pink poster board was leftover from some stage props I built a year ago that needed to be a specific color in order to fluoresce under a blacklight. I TONS left over from the project and I am finally getting to the end of the pink ones haha. I cut everything out with scissors and tried it on for size on my car.

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Not bad. Time to add some dimension to the thing so I traced out the other pieces and taped them together.

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I'm still making up my mind on the materials to use and how to attach it to the car. I'm thinking a board strapped down like a bike rack would do the trick. And possibly building the vents out of MDF? It's a work in progress and something I've wanted to do since I was a kid.

In the meantime, while I was waiting for the rainy weather to clear up I 3D printed a DMC logo for the front of the car.

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I'm still sanding and painting it, but here is what I have so far:)
 
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Re: I'm turning my car into a Delorean

I decided to make Mr. Fusion out of parts from a local thrift store:

- slide projector carousel
- small thermos
- some kind of plastic cup
- piece of grey plastic?

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I pieced it all together with hot glue and some screws then hit it with a coat of grey primer.
 
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Re: I'm turning my car into a Delorean

Being a huge fan of "close enough on a budget" I am loving this! You will be surprised at how:
A: elitists will be quick to hate, point, mock and laugh at you
B: how many average people will want their pictures taken with it
God bless you, bro! :thumbsup
 
Re: I'm turning my car into a Delorean

Go for it! Can't wait to see your progress!

"When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious crap!"
 
Re: I'm turning my car into a Delorean

Awesome project!!!
If this Celica (in the link) can pass off as a Delorean, I think there is a wide range of cars that can pull it off too! We want more! :D
http://autoblog.com.ar/2011/10/05/d...-toyota-celica-de-la-publicidad-de-garbarino/

Thanks for the link! That's encouraging!

Here's the latest on my buick time machine:

I painted the base of Mr. Fusion black the other day but forgot to post it with the rest of the other pics. I also, masked off the base and painted the rest white.
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Then today after work I masked off the window and hit it with some black spray paint. The third coat is drying right now.

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While I was at it I doused the DMC logo with some shiny paint.
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I found some back stickers at walmart, they seem like some kind of thin plastic or vinyl perhaps. Either way, it was super cheap for a 24 pack. I am tracing out the logo for Mr. Fusion with an x-acto knife and once the paint is dry, I'll slap it on there.

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Tomorrow I plan to start cutting the boards for the rear vents. That's where the car will get most of the look I think. I'm exited for that part :)
 
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Re: I'm turning my car into a Delorean

I traced out the Mr. Fusion Logos into those plastic stickers, but as it turns out I need much more practice cutting out stencil-like shapes haha.
Last night as I removed the masking tape from Mr. Fusion much of the paint came with it:(

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Rookie mistake, oh well. Live and learn.

So I decided to strip off the rest of the paint, which was far too easy so I'm glad it happened here instead of down the road. Plus I'm glad for the opportunity to repaint it as I didn't like the shape I ended up with for the window part. I sanded it down a ton to roughen the surface and coated it with a better plastic primer than I had used before. Hopefully this one will adhere better.

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I'm cutting the vents out after work today so I'll have some more pics up once that is done:) While I'm at it I'll start painting Mr. Fusion. Again...
 
Re: I'm turning my car into a Delorean

Honestly, it's probably a more comfortable ride than a DeLorean. Hat's off to you!
 
Re: I'm turning my car into a Delorean

Subscribed!

My buddy has a delorean and I've been bugging him to do the full time machine for the longest time. Just won't do it.

And count your blessings on the delorean... that things been in the shop more than it's been on the road. They truly are P.O.S. cars, heh.
 
Re: I'm turning my car into a Delorean

Subscribed!

My buddy has a delorean and I've been bugging him to do the full time machine for the longest time. Just won't do it.

And count your blessings on the delorean... that things been in the shop more than it's been on the road. They truly are P.O.S. cars, heh.
WIth a whopping 130 HP! ;)
 
Re: I'm turning my car into a Delorean

I started building the base for the trunk. I cut up some pieces of styrofoam insulation and wrapped the edges in some gaff tape. (Again pink left over from the blacklight props :p). I also chopped up an old yoga mat that I got for free a while ago.
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And... this came in the mail today! :D I'll need to get it resized though haha.

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And it begins...

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I spent the evening with my family and some friends who were in town for the day which was very enjoyable. I will continue with the vents on the morrow.
 
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