Orange4boy's Rescue and Revival of a 2003 Prius

[Christ]

Originally Posted by orange4boy

They are just Ikea candle platters. Heh. Ikea hack. They are 18" and heavier gauge than the $60 stainless pop on's that I have on the van. I will post mount them with 3 or 4 flat head socket screws tapped into the alloys through thick wall tube. They will need a bit of standoff so they don't rub on the rubber during cornering.

I like that they look like I'm running wide 45's on 18" rims but I'm really on 175-65-14s. they also have a smoother transition than moonies because they cover the part of the tire that curves back into the rim.

I just realized that if I made them into spinners with bottom weights, I could tuft test the wheels. Hmmmmm...

Eww that they're from IKEA, but I guess those things have to have some use, even if they're worthless for much else...

Excellent recycling idea, if one were to find these in the trash... somehow, I doubt it would be difficult to find. I might consider doing this with some steelies after I've figured out what's going on with my Van...

Insurance adjuster comes today to tell me that it's basically a total loss.

[orange4boy]

Insurance adjuster comes today to tell me that it's basically a total loss.

I missed that. What's up with your Cara? Everyone O.K?

but I guess those things have to have some use, even if they're worthless for much else...

I call it pre-cycling© Saving the planet by intercepting products intended for a life of evil and using them for good. These discs were candle platters. Toxic emissions from scented candles

Use of scented candles may contribute significant quantities of pollutants to the indoor environment, especially soot, benzene and lead.

Hippies and crystally types beware.

Cover but don't touch? How much gap? How is balancing handled?

A materials question, is there galvanic action between the steel platter and the alloy wheels?

1) Gap yet to be determined but my guess is about 5mm should be o.k for most deflections. The gap will also allow brake dust to be blown away and some cooling which is rarely needed in Prii. I will be able to see if they are touching and add spacers if needed. There is a risk of impact in severe deflections but I'm willing to risk that. they will just bend a bit. If it does become a problem, I will just plasma cut the discs smaller and reduce the standoff. My tires are nearing the end of their useful life in any event. (B381s are on my wish list)

2) Balancing will be handled by very careful layout. These discs are made from sheet stainless so are extremely uniform in thickness, unlike a tire, so they should be very balanced if properly aligned with rim centre.

3) The aluminium rim is bolted to an iron rotor. No galvanic action there AFAIK. More issues with brake dust than anything. I could use delrin washers to isolate the discs if there are problems.

Prof. Bob, Distinguished Professor of Priusology, makes sure his students do their homework.

[Christ]

Buddy backed into Cara... $2400 worth of damage, just to replace the outer 1/4 panel, realign the inner 1/4 panel, bumper cover, and paint.

She's only worth $1400 or so in "the book"... So if they're going to cover it, I'll get a check. I'm awaiting a call on the buyback value of the van, so I can decide if it's going to be worth it to buy her back or get another chassis to do project work on. Either way, if they cover it, and I get a check, I'm buying another vehicle, possibly a car trailer as well.

The caveat to the whole thing is that Nationwide is trying to find a way to cover the damages, even though the truck that backed into my van wasn't insured, and was in the name of the kid's Father, who I don't believe has Nationwide, and lives in NYS. It happened in the driveway, so the vehicle wasn't on the road. I was parked, noone was in the van. I was helping him move some stuff.

[MetroMPG]

(Moved the Prius engine/transaxle for sale ad to its own thread... not sure if the poster was spamming or not, but I don't think so.)

---

Anyway, glad to hear the L.A.S.S. is so forward thinking in terms of acceptable mods! Fender skirts even! (Though I suspect her flexibility is at least partly due to having seen your workmanship on other projects.)

[orange4boy]

Yeah, she's a gem.

Skirts and moonies are the biggies in terms of simple aero mods and the underside is my oyster. That's lot's of project fun. It will be nice to drive a car that inspires a little less jaw dropping, traffic stopping and redneck mocking.

(Though I suspect her flexibility is at least partly due to having seen your workmanship on other projects.)

The mods will actually have to be even better that my previous ones but I'm good with that. If you can believe it, my previous mods were a little slap-dash for my taste. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. It's a blessing and a curse.

In other news, I picked up my block heater today! Install tomorrow if all goes well.

[Daox]

Would you mind doing some testing with the block heater? I haven't installed mine yet due to the fact that I don't think it'll help a ton. The coolant thermos in the Prius has been (until the recent very cold weather) heating the engine up to ~100F in the morning. On my Matrix, the block heater only got it up to around the same temperature. Could you compare with and without using the block heater?

[orange4boy]

Unfortunately, I don't have a coolant thermos. That's an '04 and up luxury. I'll test it anyhow for what it's worth.

It makes a big difference on my Previa. Similar wattage (400) but it's in a better location under the engine. The Prius location is not the best as it's flat on the side of the block and must lose more of it's heat to the outside air than if it were embedded straight in. Makes me want to insulate that side of it but how, I don't know yet.

The difference in my commute between a warm and cold engine is dramatic though.

I think Bob has tested his but he's in a warmer location. My coolant was -3C/26F this
morning.

I'm going to work on some other warming ideas as well. like a transaxle warmer and engine oil pan warmer.

[Christ]

If either of those is large enough, a water bed heater pad will work to heat them up quickly on cold mornings. Those things get pretty hot. Not sure how you'd mount them to the parts, though.

Maybe for the trans pan, you could replace a couple of the bolts with studs, leaving enough to hang a second pan under the first w/ the heater in it?

Just a thought... you can kick me in the shin if you don't like it.

[orange4boy]

Water bed heater pad? Ha Ha. This is a Prius engine here, not the Queen Mary's main engine room. Good idea for the seats though.

I like the idea of the second pan for the heater element.

Just a thought... you can kick me in the shin if you don't like it.

If I like the idea, may I still kick you in the shin?

That would require a very long leg, but I'm willing to give it a try...

[Christ]

Not sure how large the oil/transaxle pan is.

Also, I assumed you were referring to the Previa when you said you wanted to heat the oil/trans pans. LOL

For either, there are also options for dipstick heaters, but they're inductive and slow.