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1946 Chevy Prius Truck
I'm new here. I discovered you all when I was starting my latest project. December of 2016 I brought home and 2002 Toyota Prius. I started the dismantling process. My plan was to put my 46 Chevy truck cab on top of the Prius platform. Today I was able to drive it for the first time. Everything came together like it was meant to be. Hope to show pictures of the process soon.
--- Admin update: pictures added. See more below. http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-Ho...front-clip.jpg |
You have to make 5 posts before you can do links or pics.
Let's see it! |
Welcome, Jcnhjw.
Feel free to make a few extra (meaningless) posts to get past the 5-post restriction. Looking forward to learning more about your project! PS: if you'd like to change your username to something other than your email address, send me a private message. Darin |
Love it so far!
Could we combine the threads, please? :thumbup: |
Oh, wow!
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Nice. Show us a video of it running.
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this is COOL.
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jolly, how we are slowly going into the future envisioned in the 50's :D
what is your vision for the rear axle? |
Holly Cow !!!what a vision....... congrats in a well planed, development in progress
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Let the "cross-pollinations" begin!
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You should get in touch with Bill The Engineer and the fybrid project!!!
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December 2016
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-Ho...-home-well.jpg
This is a few days after I brought the Prius home. |
December 5th
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December 6th
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-Ho...7-test-fit.jpg
Test fit. I ran the tape measure a lot that day. |
December 7th
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-Ho...out-kansas.jpg
At this point I was thinking of running the complete Prius drive train and putting a tiny bed on it. |
Bravo! Welcome to our little special little group. I'll look forward to comparing notes with you about our projects!
Bill the Engineer http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...wap-33459.html |
December 8th Change of plans.
I didn't like the way the truck was coming together. I sat in the shop and stared at the project thinking it was going to look stupid. Something needed to change. Then with about an hour before I had to leave an idea hit me. Why not do a sub-frame? Years ago I put a firebird sub-frame on a 56 Chevy. It gave me smoother suspension, disk brakes and power steering. I measured the frame rails on the truck frame and on the Prius and they were almost exactly the same. So I grab the saw and cut the front clip off the truck frame and rolled the rear section inside. I cut the Prius just in front of the fuel tank. Using some 4x4s as spacers, I laid the Truck frame on top of the Prius floor. Ratchet strapped them together and set the cab on top. I loved it.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-Ho...-two-parts.jpg |
I didn't realize it was a 1st-gen Prius when you mentioned it was a 2001 Prius. But anyway, I also forgot how narrow those Art Deco trucks were. Have you never considered to use at least a 3rd-gen Prius since it's fitted with a chainless transaxle?
BTW what are you going to do with the rear axle? What about adapting the rear axle of the Prius since you won't need a differential housing? |
The reason I used the gen 1 Prius is... it's what I had �� It was given to me so I used it. It does have a second generation battery in it.
Not sure what I'll do with the rearend yet. My goal is to keep the look but drop the weight. |
Nice truck! And all the power you'll ever need to get to/from the Cars & Coffee shows. Leave it rusty please, I love the look.
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cool! We like the mix of old and new
I want to sit down and have a cold drink with you ever in Indiana or Florida? |
Quote:
I notice you prefaced one of your posts "December 8". Is this project further along than the images & descriptions suggest? (I have no problem with that... better to be reading a project in the past that has maybe already been successfully completed than a "live" ongoing project that doesn't end up getting finished!) EDIT: never mind. I see in your first post you say " Today I was able to drive it for the first time." So you're further along than the images show. ALSO... What's your motivation for this project? Just curious. |
Why can I not see ANY pictures of this??? Not even one?
Do want. |
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prius parts
Bill got some parts from me
and I need to make 4 more posts to be able to post links |
did you hear the joke about the roof?
its over my head |
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This is hilarious, ridiculous, and awesome all at the same time. Somehow looking where you're joining that unibody to the c-channel frame just makes my day. |
I can post links now,
I wanted to share this Prius boat I made http://autobeyours.com/gifs/Priustor...uild%20109.jpg just look up priustoric |
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HA. That's awesome.
imwoody36, mind if I split it into a dedicated thread? |
Steve,
Glad to see it's coming along nicely. It's been over a year since I'd seen it. Nice! Bill the Engineer |
The 2nd configuration is much improved, although you could still bob the truck frame to that shorter wheelbase. Have you upgraded from the ratchet straps yet?
What do you plan for the front wheels? The PCD is 5x100? Maybe you could find some steelies that would fit and use a wide low-profile tire to maintain the final drive ratio. Then you could have a reasonably matched big-and-littles. I'd put the truck rear-end in backward and put a bronze outboard boat propeller on the yoke, but that's just me. =) Since you like repurposing boats, consider an aerodynamic boat tail: http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-fr...5-boattail.jpg |
January 19th 2017
So after I took a break for the holidays I decided to weld the two together. This was a bit stressful. I measured, nudged, measured, tugged, measured until I thought/hoped it was true. Then said a prayer and started tacking it together. I continued measuring after every weld.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-ho...-1-2-apart.jpg |
Inspiration
I had a car with electrical issues and decided to talk with a local guy who's know for being any expert with finding gremlins in cars. When I drove up I noticed a ton of Prii in his lot. In the course of conversation he discovered I liked weird automobile creations. So he showed me his Cadillac Northstar powered 1949 International pickup. As we were swapping stories the idea of Prius power came up. Until then I always joked about Prii. But the idea started growing. So thanks to Jeff at CRT in Batavia I came home with my first Prius. Then the adventure began. :D
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Wheels and tires
So first gen Prii have a 4x100 bolt pattern. Also the track is much narrower. So I searched the inter web and found a 4x100 to 5 x 4.5 adapter that was 2" wide. This way I can run 5 lug steel wheels and maintain the proper track. As far as tire size and final drive I'm working on that. Not sure if it will hurt to run a little taller tire. We'll see. :D
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HV Battery
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-ho...under-seat.jpg
So a 46 Chevy truck places the gas tank under the seat. This is plenty of room for the HV Battery. I'll need to get creative on how to keep it cool. But there's plenty of room between the truck floor and the Prius floor. This area should accommodate a fan and some duct work. |
This is a ton of fun to watch.
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It runs.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-ho...onics-runs.jpg
So on February 10th we were able to get everything together and I heard it run for the first time. Up to this point I had never heard a Prius start and run. I was somewhat of a anti Hybrid person. It was ignorance. I never paid attention to them, therefore had no memory of what they sounded like. My first thought was, it sounds like an electric generator. Weird, I'm used to V8s, loud, obnoxious, gas guzzlers. This was a little hum. Then as I celebrated this mile marker it happened... it died...I thought, oh crap, what's wrong? Looking to Jeff he, informed me that the batteries charged and it turned itself off. Obviously I was new to the Hybrid world. Now I needed to hook up the controls. |
If you wanted to save weight in the back you could put a trailer brake axle. They are available in 1,350lb to 7,000+lb capacity.
The smallest capacity brake axles are only electric as far as I know. The 3,500lb axles and larger can be electric or hydraulic. Only problem is I just don't think an electric trailer brake axle on a truck would pass a vehicle inspection. |
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