1993 Rx7 + Tesla Motor

[rjmcdermott81]

At this point, I started to plot and plan. I got the tesla drive unit measurements, jacked up the car, and started to measure. I'd never seen the underside of an RX-7 so at this point I was still going on blind faith that I could get something to work.

When you remove the gas tank and cut out the rear spare wheel well there is plenty of clearance in the back:



and plenty of width for the drive unit gearbox to fit if you cut the center of the subframe out:



This gave me enough confidence to buy a drive unit. Which I needed to do because without it, it would be impossible to figure out how to fit it in there. I bought it from a Tesla dismantler in CA, super cool guy and they delivered it freight right to my house. Here is unpacking day:

[rjmcdermott81]

When I got there the car looked good for it's age but it had a few noticeable issues: bad oil leak from the engine, some sort of clunking in the rear-right when lifting the throttle, and when I hooked up a boost gauge it was making 6psi of boost when the forums said 10. The seller conveniently wasn't there and I had to deal with him over the phone while trying to decide whether to fly home or just take it. I figured I wouldn't do any better with another car so I bought it. After spending more time with the car I am thoroughly impressed at how original it is. Every covering, shield, piece of plastic is where it should be. The guy said he bought it to do an LS swap but couldn't do it because of how original it was. Well...here I am about to ruin it.

Here's a shot from my 12-hour drive home. Drove it through the night with no issues other than - gas smell and no start unless you twist the key 5-10 times (apparently these are both common "features" of RX-7s).



Here she is safely at home:



Other issues I would later discover: cigarette lighter doesn't have power, slight surface rust on the inside of the rear hatch, and most importantly...the keys don't work in the door locks, or the door locks don't work at all.

[rjmcdermott81]

Hey gents - I was hoping to get farther along in my build before posting but I need advice and help from the forum. I realize this isn't a BMW but you guys are the most knowledgeable bunch I know and I'm definitely stretching my technical depth here so jump in if you have advice.

The car - Like many of us...I've always dreamed of owning a 1991-1993 RX-7. To me, this car looks amazing, BUT I've always stayed away from it because of the unreliable rotary engine. And honestly, now that I've driven it I'm not very impressed. Part of that is because I have an automatic and the gearing sucks but in stock form it doesn't really feel that fast. So, I figured, if I'm going to electric swap a car I should start with one that really needs it.

The challenge with this build is getting the rear-mounted drive unit in an independent rear suspension car. There have been some really good builds done on BMWs (e30 and 850i) but I believe the rear trailing arm suspension lends itself to the swap. As you'll see getting this sucker to fit while maintaining the integrity of the rear subframe is my first big hurdle. I think for a fabricator or hotrod shop this may not be too difficult but I'm a novice so it's going to take some thinking and trying.

To catch everyone up here's the plan (things will probably change as I go): 1993 FD RX-7

• Motor: Tesla Model S drive unit (motor, inverter, and single-speed gearbox) rated at 362 hp and 325 ft⋅lb or more
• Batteries: Chevy Volt or Tesla Model S (Tesla if I can fit a whole pack)
• Color: Red, white, or maybe BMW Long Beach blue? more on that later...
• Timing: I want to take this car to Radwood Austin 2021 under it's own power. If I had to it repainted by then that would be amazing but I don't think that's possible.

I tend to get into projects one step at a time. Make commitments and complete small jobs. So first step was...just buy an RX-7. In 2019 here is where the market was:

• Non-running, half stripped cars: 12-15k
• Decent looking, running automatics: 15-19k
• Decent looking, running manuals: 19-22k
• Good looking manuals: 22k+

After finding so many issues with my e30 that had been sitting for years I really thought paying a little bit more to get a running and decent looking car would be worth it. So I searched high and low and finally found a 93 auto in Tallahassee, FL for 17k.

Here are the pics from the ad








I talked to the seller at length and he described it as in good running condition with an older repaint. We agreed on price and I paid using escrow.com (I highly recommend). I decided to fly out there and drive it back because....that is always exciting.