1993 Rx7 + Tesla Motor

[rjmcdermott81]

Body work

[rjmcdermott81]

Complete disassembly and claybar

[rjmcdermott81]

Time to make it look better. I've always wanted to try doing a vinyl wrap so I gave it a shot. Midway through this project I was watching a how to video and the pro pointed at an FD in the corner of the shop and said - that car, I would never wrap that, it's one of the hardest to do because of all the curves.

Would I do it again? No way.
Would I pay someone for it? No way

Wraps are either a ton of work or very expensive. Just get a cheap paint job instead. It will last longer.

If I had a cybertruck or something with flat panels I'd wrap it all day long. That would be a cinch.

The prep work was 50% of what I'd need to do to paint the car - complete disassembly, cleaning, dent repair, epoxy priming the filler...

I started with the easiest piece to test:

[rjmcdermott81]

Once the car was all together and running. The big question... is it heavy? Nope, in fact it lost weight.

[rjmcdermott81]

Cleaned up the interior and painted it black.

[rjmcdermott81]

In case I (or the next owner) ever want to make this car a 5-speed, I bought all the parts - trans, shifter, driveshaft, clutch, and 3-pedal setup.

[rjmcdermott81]

Level 2 charger wiring

[rjmcdermott81]

Wiring cleanup

[rjmcdermott81]

I created a home for the BMS screen, shifter, and master power switch. It lives where the old shifter sat. I sacrificed the automatic shifter pieces to make it work.

[rjmcdermott81]

Battery Management System (Zeva BMS)

[rjmcdermott81]

High Voltage wiring complete and creating a home in the transmission tunnel. I wanted it to be easy to access the charger, HV-LV converter, and HV wiring box.

Putting it in the trans tunnel keeps the weight down low and centered in the car.

[rjmcdermott81]

When it came time to put the axles back together I discovered that re-assembling a CV axle joint is some sort of lost art... I went to transmission shops and asked to pay them to do it but they told me it "wasn't possible". It took some patience but it seems to be more like assembling a puzzle than anything. I think shops just buy assembled ones now and never do this anymore.

This was a requirement because I joined the RX-7 outer CVs with the Tesla inside CVs.

[rjmcdermott81]

I kept having issues with the OpenInverter setup. I switched over to AEM because it's a more robust automotive-grade setup. Configuring it....not easy at all...but now that it's all done it has been rock solid.







Yes, the wiring does get cleaned up :)

[rjmcdermott81]

Made a home for the 12v battery.

Word of caution! Aparently 1993 insulation in these cars is highly flammable! I was welding...a spark hit that stuff, and it nearly burned the whole car down. Luckily, I had a fire extinguisher at the ready.

[rjmcdermott81]

Bought some 99 spec taillights...