Recycle a Prius
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 08. 1.07
MAKE blog have a post about buying a wrecked Prius and taking the drive train to use in some other hacked creation. If you have a car lying around which you think would make a great hybrid, and a whole lot more mechanical expertise than I do, then this could make an amazing weekend project. Of course, by weekend, I mean every weekend for the rest of your natural life.
It looks as though there is some confusion about the link they are pointing to, "Update: "Fety" in the comments says that the site is selling "access" to listings for $15 (and is unhappy about that) - our post was pointing out that dead Priuses exist and could be used for projects, we do not endorse or have anything to do with the site(s) besides thinking that dead Priuses are interesting."
I'm sure that a visit to your local scrap dealer would turn up a few dead Prius carcasses for you to tinker with. It seems fitting that such a green car would be recycled in such an interesting way. If you try something like this then please let us know, we'd love to hear from you. ::Make
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- Photos of New 2010 Prius Hybrid Leaked, Confirmed by Toyota
A practical candidate from a feasibility standpoint would be a Toyota Solara convertible: Convertible Hybrid. Easier if the wrecked car were a Camry hybrid, perhaps.
A sexier route would be to try to cram the hybrid system into a Miata/s2000/solstice/TT sized roadster.
I'd always wanted to try to take the Accord IMA hybrid system out of a conventional 4-door Accord Hybrid and stick it in a manual transmission coupe. Talk about a project that would take forever... and by the time you got done paying for the hours of labor, you may was well just buy a Tesla.
If the car was scrapped, there probably is a good reason for it, some parts might be recoverable for cheap repair of other priuses (just like with any other car), but trying to make a new car out of the wreckage would prove very costly, and the result would not even be street legal.
Some people seem to love losing their time, energy and talents on useless projects.
Everytime a prius gets crunched like that I am sad. But everytime a prius is recycled, an angel gets it's wings.
If you are serious.
Lets start.I would assume the car is unibody.Not a framed car.Now you need to find out.Which ones are frame members and vital to rigidity.
When this is done.You know have a rolling frame.with that done you take some measurements.And find out what fits best.
A very small body would require cutting/welding of your rolling frame.If you chose a slightly larger body.You have some wiggle room.
Anyway you look at it.It will take allot of welding.If you are not comfortable with that.I suggest you just rebuild the stock auto with new parts.And if you are adventurous.Build a fun two seater sports car.You get the look and feel of fun.While being green.
Keep in mind hand built takes time.I hope you have an understanding significant other.
Salvage vehicles are auctioned off accross the country every day, including many Pri-i. A salvage car can make a fantastic project, but tread carefully because auction sites are not always up-front about the extent of the damages.
Normally an auto dealer's license is required to purchase from a salvage auction. Be wary of any service selling you access to the listings.
Auto Tech, why go through all that trouble? I would take the drivetrain and put it into another car, especially if I already owned a car and the engine or tranny was near end-of-life. This process wouldn't be much different than buying the components to make your own EV, which many people have done and are doing today. They make room for the batteries, weld in new brackets to support the electric motor, and have an adaptor made so they can attach to the existing tranny. You would do the same for the Prius components.
Doug
If you sell the reusable parts you have more money.Specifically to fund the other car.
Also you need to take into consideration something else.Reference locations and wiring.
I have not worked on hybrid systems yet.Therefore i have limited knowledge on it.The info i gave was general.If it was helpful ok.If not oh well.
What i do on a regular basis.Is remove gas engines and do diesel swaps.From there they can be converted to run biodiesel or wvo.
I turn " gas guzzlers " Into diesel sippers.I extend the life of older trucks.So new ones are not bought.Beyond that.Many of my clients like older trucks.Because they are built heavier and stronger.
My 1986 Jaguar XJ6 won't start and I was thinking of buying a Prius. Then I thought... hmmm, maybe I could get a wrecked Prius free or cheap and figure out how to install the engine/motor/etc in my Jaguar... Anyone think this might be possible?
The Prius and the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive is a tough nut to crack ......... Sooner or later, someone will do it. I've been thinking about doing a project like this ..... put the Hybrid drive and dashboard into a Model T body ....... If anyone has done something like this, please post it.