Hybrid Hot Rod 2.0 - The Pria Ghia

[mannydantyla]

Alright Hoopie, I'm following in your footsteps! (and don't worry I'm not going to hijack your build thread any further than this). I bought my victim on Sunday, a '73 Super Beetle:



At the moment I plan on melding the front half of a subcompact FWD car's chassis with the back half of the Bug's frame. Then add structural support as needed. Something like this:



Taking lots of measurements and comparing them to my wife's Yaris, the strut towers would definitely be in the way of the bug's fenders and front quarter panels. I'm sure it would be the same story with a Prius.

[freebeard]

A simple engine swap is still an option. What's NOT an option is keeping the bug the way it is. The thing is a death trap!

An engine swap won't fix that.

At least it's a 1303, not a 1302. It appears to have the bubbled-out windshield.

The half-pan idea is interesting. What is the difference in the width between the strut towers on the SuperB and on the Prius? If they were equal (or made so) it would result in a very clean result. Too bad it's not a '74:



Here's a Macpherson strut conversion on a Superbeetle,. Maybe something similar could be done to the Prius parts:



The coil-overs would have to be longitudinal. For a simple swap, I've got the Lexus transaxle but the new Toyota RAV4 or something has a similar unit with twin motors and the differential in software.

I think the open diff in the Beetle makes it deathtrap. I found out on black ice. Oops, I just contradicted my opening statement.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Not sure I agree. All the dune buggies with plastic bodies says the pan should be fairly rigid since the body doesn't add much strength off road.

I can relate that to the Beetle floorpans adapted with the bodies of some older imports originally fitted with a ladder-frame in Brazil. No complaints about structure rigidity though...

[Hoopie]

Started chopping the floor on the Prius. Taking 11” out behind the seats. Taking my time and measuring a lot to get it square.

Been busy lately so it’s nice to get back at it.

Looking forward to seeing the Beetle swap unfold. You need to start a thread so we can follow along.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

How are you going to deal with high-voltage wiring and its connections after chopping the floorpan?

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

How are you going to deal with high-voltage wiring and its connections after chopping the floorpan?

Service loop and tie straps?

[Hoopie]

I’ll loop them up by the battery.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

What I actually meant was if you would cut and splice the high-voltage harness, or try to re-route it with some loops. I guess you would want to take some extra care on that task...

[Piotrsko]

Dont know about loop, probably more like a jink or even just a couple of bends. IIRC, you only lost 14"

[Hoopie]

Here I’ve started pushing it together. Slowly bending the fuel lines and brake lines as it came together.