# Fitting of engine & merging of driveaxles



## ViktorT (Jun 26, 2019)

I have Tesla front driveunit from a model s that I want to fit into an alfa romeo 147. My thought is to cut the driveaxles from the alfa and the tesla and merge them together in a custom made piece of pipe. I intend to weld on beams to the chassi on which the brackets shall be bolted on to. Has anyone here done something like this before? Im trying to figure out how to get the correct length of the driveaxles and how to measure in the correct placing of thd driveunit. Any suggestions or insights are most welcome


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

All I can suggest is to not use that method of making axles. What method is better depends on the specific joint types and sizes used by Tesla and Alfa Romeo for these vehicles.


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## ViktorT (Jun 26, 2019)

brian_ said:


> All I can suggest is to not use that method of making axles. What method is better depends on the specific joint types and sizes used by Tesla and Alfa Romeo for these vehicles.


Thanks for input Brian. I have thought to have two pieces custom made to fit the current joint which consist of 6 bolts. Why would you not recommend my thought way of mering axles?


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

ViktorT said:


> I have thought to have two pieces custom made to fit the current joint which consist of 6 bolts.


Various successful projects have used custom-made shafts with a combination of joints that work for each end, or modified the inner joints to be stub axles that work with different inner joints, which in turn work with a shaft that works with the outer joint... so that might be the right direction.

From a very quick web search for images, the 147 does appear to use an inner joint which is bolted to a flange on the transaxle output stub axle. The Tesla inner CV joint and integrated stub axle could be modified to have a flange to mount the 147's inner CV joint, just as Yabert did with the Bolt inner CV joints so they would work with VW shafts and CV joints:
_Westfalia T3 with Chevy Bolt drivetrain_ - starting at post #103

Zero EV sells stub axles for the Tesla drive unit made with a flange ready to accept some common bolt-on CV joints; with a lot of luck, maybe they're compatible with the Alfa 147 joints, but even if not, they illustrate the idea:
Tesla Drive Shaft Stump 108 Porsche 930 / 964 / 993 / VW



ViktorT said:


> Why would you not recommend my thought way of mering axles?


It would be difficult to get an adequately strong shaft which is straight and balanced. An axle shaft failing at high speed could be a severe incident.


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## ViktorT (Jun 26, 2019)

Your input is very useful. Thanks Brian. I got a bit scared from the info you showed and Im getting in contact with zeroEV 👍


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## ViktorT (Jun 26, 2019)

So it was a bit of a hassle to go for the stuff on zeroEV. Im back considering merging the driveaxles together. I got in touch with a mech workshop to help. Are the tesla driveaxles hollow or massive?


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## rjmcdermott81 (Aug 14, 2019)

ViktorT said:


> So it was a bit of a hassle to go for the stuff on zeroEV. Im back considering merging the driveaxles together. I got in touch with a mech workshop to help. Are the tesla driveaxles hollow or massive?


Hey - it took me a long time to find a place that would modify axles. Most shops said it wasn't possible to shorten the Tesla axles but I think they just didn't have the equipment to machine splines. Dutchman Motorsports in Utah does this all the time. It was really easy, fast and cheap. I sent them my Rx7 axle and Tesla axle and they machined the right splines onto the Tesla axle to match the outboard CV joint.

Details are in my build thread: 1993 Rx7 + Tesla Motor - R3VLimited Forums


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## ViktorT (Jun 26, 2019)

I have found a guy who can do it in Sweden. So happy!



rjmcdermott81 said:


> Hey - it took me a long time to find a place that would modify axles. Most shops said it wasn't possible to shorten the Tesla axles but I think they just didn't have the equipment to machine splines. Dutchman Motorsports in Utah does this all the time. It was really easy, fast and cheap. I sent them my Rx7 axle and Tesla axle and they machined the right splines onto the Tesla axle to match the outboard CV joint.
> 
> Details are in my build thread: 1993 Rx7 + Tesla Motor - R3VLimited Forums


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