The Hybrid Convertible Project Prius v

The way I am going about the merger, the upper reinforced part of the firewall and front door support from both cars will be welded together including any cross-bracing I can add. The box section should be every bit as rigid as the original firewall, if not more so, since much of the Firebird's metal is twice as thick in that area.

The upper portion of the Firebird rocker panels will also be fully seam welded to the tops of the "v" rocker panels, creating a double thick configuration that will then be capped-over on the outside with an additional welded on cover. (The "v" rides lower to the ground than the Firebird, so the difference in height should not be noticeable.) All of the Prius v cabin floor and bracing will remain. The Firebird seat support and rear body internal bracing will be welded on top of it with fabricated filler pieces where needed to seal-off between the two. As usual, I am working out much of the geometry on the CAD system before cutting.

I'll have an Iced Earl Grey and drink to that. Cheers!

Bill the Engineer

 

The folding chair is fully adjustable. In fact, it is fully stow-able in case you want to carry something large...

... like a convertible body.

Bill the Engineer

 

Wow, thanks for the compliments. Your project sounds quite interesting too. I will try to answer your questions to the extent of what I have learned so far.



Answer 1: There is an unpainted metal cage-like structure that supports the console that can be unbolted from brackets welded into the floor. What remains on the floor are a series of low welded brackets on the floorpan. These should probably not be disturbed since they also provide some protection for the parking brake cable that runs along the center of the hump. They also protect some electronic sensors that shouldn't be disturbed attached to the floorpan in this area. If you remove the console, I would recommend bolting a metal plate in its place to step upon. This would prevent damage to the items below it.

Answer 2: I mentioned above that there are floor-mounted electrical items in this area. While your car will run with the EV/ECO/PWR switch disconnected (with the result of always being in "normal" mode), the other items need to remain connected and in their existing locations on the floor. Fortunately they do not mount on the console itself. Protection from being trampled is required though.



Answer 3: For my project, he EV/ECO/PWR mode switch will be mounted centrally in the Firebrid's modified dash. I don't expect that particular cable will need to be lengthened, but a number of others will. I need to get a lot of sheet-metal work out of the way first before I address that part of the project. The final dash is planned to be as close to the original Firebird design as possible, but with the multi-function screen hanging under the center of the dash where originally an 8-track player would have been (had the car originally had one.)

Please note that I use the term "Firebrid" for the car after the conversion, and "Firebird" for the convertible prior to the conversion. The donor Prius v has the nickname "Donna the Donor Car" among my family members. I normally try not to use that name since I bought the car incomplete and wrecked with a salvage title, so that VIN number essentially no longer exists as a car.

Bill the Engineer

 

This coming weekend is all about a concert that my wife and I plan to attend, as well as Father's day. Progress will resume the following weekend when the parts of the Firebird floorpan that need to get cut away will start to go!






Bill the Engineer

(Updated 6/17/15)

 

Good news: Did some part trading with Steve at autobeyours.com in Scottsburg, IN, on our way to the concert this past weekend. Traded parts he can use for collision damaged Prius v's for some Gen-II parts I wanted for the project. (gas door assembly and surrounding sheetmetal, plus an additional intermediate steering shaft so I can extend mine.) The Gen-II door will fit the contour of the Firebird rear fender much better than the Gen-III would. It is also closer to a late-1960's shape.



Also ordered the blank version of the Firebird center dash panel. I had noticed that it was disappearing from the various parts catalogs, so I found one on-line.



Bad news: My wife broke her forearm on the trip. She'll be in a cast for a while. We still enjoyed the concert though!

Bill the Engineer

 

My prettier half is home and as stable as she will be for now. Saturday is forecast as a wash-out day, so Sunday looks like the fun-in-the-garage day. Getting that Sawz-all itch...

Bill the Engineer

 

The convertible is a tough old bird. Not only is the sheet metal twice as thick, the area under the front bucket seats is triple thick for strength.



The front two areas under the dash are where the forward floor cross beam in the donor v is located. There were a lot of rust holes in that location, so I also cut the rotted parts away.



The aft floor cross beam in the donor v is located directly under the driver's seat in the Firebird. Fortunately the cuts do not get near the seat attachment points.



I had planned to cut out four locations in the floor today. However, the convertible ate so many saw blades that I had to stop at three. There is always next weekend...

Bill the Engineer

 

Not exactly.

Again, not exactly. The Firebird had a sub-frame in the front that only extended back to under the front seats. This overlapped a unibody structure that runs from the cowl to the rear bumper mounts. A bit of an odd set-up that caused vibration problems for GM. The car has viscous vibration dampers that mount in all four corners that add about 80 lbs to the car. I may or may not need them (TBD) due to the double sills I will have on the car.

Bill the Engineer