Hi All. I recently converted my Rx7 to run on electricity and the extra weight from the batteries caused the ride height to go down 1 inch in the front and 2 in the rear.

I would like to return it to normal without spending a fortune. Does anyone have a suggestion? The car is an 88 RX7 non-turbo. Are there commonly available springs with a bit longer free length and spring rate? Maybe a geometrically compatible spring from another type of car?

Thanks

Nathan.

 

Used ancient lead acid batteries?

There are aftermarket springs available from several vendors, but while they have a higher spring rate, they are all lowering springs as well. I don't think they will be able to compensate for that much weight. I think you're now in ultra stiff racing spring territory which will make for a terrible ride.

As horrible as this sounds, how about a set of 1" lift blocks?

It's actually not that hard to have custom springs made up to your specifications. Costs a little more....Give Eibach a call and see what they say.

 

Aaron,

Thanks for the comments.

I was thinking of putting a spacer between the spring and either the upper or lower flange and the spring. Is that what you were referring to as "blocks". What material are these typically made from? Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Yep, that would be a block. A bit of aluminum of the correct diameter should do the job it clamped to the spring so it can't move around too much. It's not the correct approach, but it's the cheapest.

 

Look into ReSpeed's offerings.

http://mrcmfg.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=113_57

 

Hi do you have a website or more info about your conversion somewhere?

 

I have not posted much details on the conversion, as I found most of the info on the web and did not think many folks would be interested. The car can be seen at: http://www.evalbum.com/1870. It is using 12 12v deep cycle batteries, DC motor and pulse width modulation controller. I expect 30-40 mile range, but I have not yet added the battery heaters, so I am getting much less. It is not a race car by any means, but is not bad. The energy cost is 5 cents/mile. Although, that may be misleading as I will need to replace the batteries every few years. This should bring it up to just a bit below a gas car per mile, although now that gas is essentially free again ....

Would you be interested in seeing how I converted it? If a few of you show an interest, I could make a web page for the conversion. Let me know.

 

I would like to know more. I am going to school for engineering and I like those kind of things. Thanks

 

Neat. Here's me:
http://www.evalbum.com/495