The Firebrid Hybrid Convertible Project (Prius platform swap)

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Bill the Engineer

The Economy gauge is just a vacuum gauge

Actually it's not simply a vacuum gauge, but I don't know exactly how it works. It may eventually take input from the TPS too, but it was meant to be used in cars not fitted with a tach.

[Bill the Engineer]

Took today off from work. The brutal heat continues. I got out into the garage in the morning to work on the project as long as I could. Too hot to scrape and grind stuff, and certainly too hot to weld! I decided to start some part fabrication for around the kick vent areas to channel rainwater away from the interior.





At least now I feel like I made SOME progress this past weekend!

Bill the Engineer

[Xist]

Yeah, you're gonna need more tape to hold that in place!

[Bill the Engineer]

This image from last year shows why the kick vent areas need to be partially enclosed while the body is still off of the chassis. There are areas that are completely inaccessible once the body is mounted.



Bill the Engineer

[Bill the Engineer]

Measure twice , cut once... or in my case, measure lots of times because I can't remember what the number was the last time I measured it...

I discovered on Saturday that there is a lower firewall brace on the Prius v chassis that would interfere with the lower portion of the kick vent chamber pieces that I was fabricating. You can see where the Firebird body scraped by them when it was dropped onto the chassis the first time.




So, doing what any red blooded engineer would do, I revised the design to go around them. Saturday was spent fabricating the revised parts out of the old ones. I also created drip gutters to go over the kick vent opening, (something Pontiac should have done to begin with to eliminate kick vent water leaks.)



Sunday was final fit-up and welding day.



Next weekend will be seam sealer and primer weekend, with any extra time going back to scraping out the rear wheel wells.

Bill the Engineer

[Bill the Engineer]

Slow progress today. Taking it step-by-step. Hopefully tomorrow will go well.



Bill the Engineer

[Bill the Engineer]

Slow progress this weekend. Tropical storm rains moved in Sunday afternoon. Hopefully next weekend will go well.




Bill the Engineer

[talonts]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

What about that pod in the hood? Was it used as a housing for the tach? Since there is no tach in the Prius, how could you repurpose that feature?

There may not be a tach, but there is a tach signal. I added a tach years ago, and there are many times it shows the engine running while the MFD does not.

[Bill the Engineer]

Had some time to photo-document what I need to do before the body drops onto the chassis. These are just a few of over 50 images I took. The modifications of the body are done, but I have a LOT of clean-up and seam welding do do underneath before it becomes inaccessible. I also have a few tasks on the chassis to handle, mostly having to do with rerouting the parking brake cable.





Big dirty job. Glad the coming weekend is supposed to be dry.

Bill the Engineer

[Bill the Engineer]

Wire brushing the soon-to-be inaccessible places on the body and applying rust converting paint. The satin black finish is very similar to the original GM paint in that area. Got the cowl area done today. Tomorrow I move to the underside. Those are areas that had been external on the original Firebird, but will now be mostly internal on the Firebrid.





It's amazing how much a coat of paint improves the appearance, even though some of these areas will never be seen again once the body is welded to the chassis.

Bill the Engineer