The TesLorean

[Lwanmtr]

Looks good. wont that EPS thing poke into where the washer bottle is located?

[DrJeff]

Looks good. wont that EPS thing poke into where the washer bottle is located?

Didn't think of that one, so I just rechecked it. From the top of the LHS shock tower (forward) to a 'fender brace' that sits behind the washer bottle is ~14in. The EPS motor (when positioned correctly) extends to 6 to 7 inches (forward) of the top of the shock tower. So (phew) there's a good few inches of clearance.

[Lwanmtr]

Ahh cool. I'll admit my judgement of space under there isn't perfect.specially looking at it without the rest of the car there...hehe.

[Josh]

Try to keep your cv angle as minimal as possible. I have my transmission moved 3" forward and would not move it any more. If you move it more than 1" forward I would suggest running the dune buggy boots, they allow for much more angle. It looks like your axles will be short too, so this will be more of a concern.

This project is very cool, excited to see it moving along.

Also as a check the brake lines are indeed 3/16 tubing with 10mm ends. It is a very common size.

[David T]

Try to keep your cv angle as minimal as possible. I have my transmission moved 3" forward and would not move it any more. If you move it more than 1" forward I would suggest running the dune buggy boots, they allow for much more angle. It looks like your axles will be short too, so this will be more of a concern.

This project is very cool, excited to see it moving along.

Also as a check the brake lines are indeed 3/16 tubing with 10mm ends. It is a very common size.

On the subject of CV joint angle, you want it as close to straight as possible at ride height which should be the middle of the rear suspension travel. The more you increase the angle the less power you can transmit and the shorter the life of the joints. The shafts can move in and out a little bit to allow for up and down movement. You must make sure your shafts are not too short or too long so you can maintain that movement. Take the springs and shocks out and check the suspension and shafts for full freedom of movement in all positions of the suspension. In most electric conversions since the transmission is no longer necessary, they do away with it altogether and connect the motor right to the differential or in this case the final drive. You may find you must limit the amount of power at low speeds so you don't spin one wheel. The diff in a Delorean is not a "limited slip" type diff.

[Josh]

On the subject of CV joint angle, you want it as close to straight as possible at ride height which should be the middle of the rear suspension travel. The more you increase the angle the less power you can transmit and the shorter the life of the joints. The shafts can move in and out a little bit to allow for up and down movement. You must make sure your shafts are not too short or too long so you can maintain that movement. Take the springs and shocks out and check the suspension and shafts for full freedom of movement in all positions of the suspension. In most electric conversions since the transmission is no longer necessary, they do away with it altogether and connect the motor right to the differential or in this case the final drive. You may find you must limit the amount of power at low speeds so you don't spin one wheel. The diff in a Delorean is not a "limited slip" type diff.

Oh no david! When are my CV joints going to inevitably fail?



Some swaps to not allow you to have perfectly straight CV axles, so you need to deal with it. There are options out there, for example I used dune buggy axles that are good to 26 deg, mine are running at 10 deg and are fine.

[DrJeff]

... In most electric conversions since the transmission is no longer necessary, they do away with it altogether and connect the motor right to the differential or in this case the final drive. You may find you must limit the amount of power at low speeds so you don't spin one wheel. The diff in a Delorean is not a "limited slip" type diff.

For this project the DeLorean transmission/differential (everything) is being removed. The Tesla Drive Unit includes (integrated with the motor) the single reduction gear and differential.

The Tesla differential is not limited either. The Tesla monitors the wheel speeds and if one wheel begins to spin it fires the electronic parking brake on that wheel - essentially acting in a manner similar to anti-lock brakes, but for traction control.

I'll be fitting tone rings to both rear wheels, however I may or may not implement some form of traction control. There are several potential solutions, none are straightforward, e.g. reducing power to the motor, fitting electric brakes (the Tesla ones are unlikely to fit), or a quaife differential (already developed for the large Tesla motors). My current plan is to wait and see how bad the problem is (or how fun it is) and then decide how involved the solution needs to be.

[David T]

Oh no david! When are my CV joints going to inevitably fail?


Some swaps to not allow you to have perfectly straight CV axles, so you need to deal with it. There are options out there, for example I used dune buggy axles that are good to 26 deg, mine are running at 10 deg and are fine.

Everything fails, it is just a matter of time. The more stress you put on a part the sooner you can expect it to fail. Good design dictates limiting the angle if you want longevity out of the C/V joints. Since all engineering is a compromise you can give up longevity for simplicity or economics or anything else. As an example, if lasts 10,000 miles instead of 100,000 miles that may be an acceptable trade-off to you. In racing it just has to last 1/4 mile in some cases!

[opethmike]

Lol, ever the optimist there.

[DCUK Martin]

CV joints should always have at least 2 degrees of angle in order for the grease to circulate. Running a joint perfectly straight is a surefire way to have it fail very early