My buddy and I were under the hood the other day and he was asking whats the silver box (inverter). Had to describe to him what it looks like. Was wondering if in theory the metal cover could be removed and a clear cover used instead similar to the car below? Same question goes for the battery pack in the trunk. Can there be a view slot made or is the metal cover somehow related to grounding or voltage,thus harming the car by doing this? Ignore the notes on the pic. The silver inverter on the right I'd like to either paint or if possibly cut visible viewing slots.
In theory, anything can be done. But it would not be practical, as it won't serve any purpose doing so
I this video you can see how hard Toyota had to work to get heat out of the inverter. I suspect but cannot prove that replacing the metal top with clear plastic would conduct heat out less well. It might not make much difference as it appears to be very thin Aluminum. cooling issues start at 9:50 to 10:30 Perhaps you could swap back to aluminum in the summer.
I'm sure painting the invertor cover or the use of vinyl would be fine. Toyota did it with their Prius GT - La Toyota Prius GT rejoint le "Goodwood Festival of Speed" - Clean@uto - Le site des transports propres et de la mobilité durable - if you ever find out info on how they did the 'extras' to this prius..or the landspeed prius... or the SCCA Solo II FSP Prius - let me know. I can't find additional info anywhere. Swapping the cams over from the Echo/Yaris 1NZ-FE has been something i've wanted to do for a long time. Not sure about swapping it out for a invertor cover for a plastic one would do much benefit. Most people obviously do it for show - where some do it to help see/solve issues within whatever the cover is on. On most engines tho the plastic covers tend to 'wear' worse than the original Cast metal cover.
The more videos and pictures I see, the more I suspect that right under that shiny cover is that black lump. I think the black bracket at the top of this photo is the same black bracket at the front of the inverter in Justdidit's photo
Strangely enough, I built a battery cover out of plexiglass. I had a lot of problems. Threw codes for overheating, the battery fan would run and never keep up. I put slots in it, and other vents, but in the end, it didn't look the way I wanted anyway, and it wreaked havoc with the system. SM-G900V ?
I'd say anything is possible (I think it would look cool - Not rice!), I guess it all boils down to time & money. My gut tells me that painting might be the better (simpler) way to go it you want to add visual enhancement to the engine bay. Whatever you do, please post pictures and let us know your experience pros/cons with the project. Keep on modding!
I still want to swap the engine with a supercharged MR2 engine from the '80s, info the hybrid system. SM-G900V ?
Yes this would only be for show.... How safe is it to remove that cover just to paint it, would I need to disconnect the HV battery/pull the orange plug? Oh what color would look good with a red strut bar? Noticed the Prius GT does not have wiper fluid reservoir, won't how much that weights. roostafish - Do you have any pics from your battery cover ?
Was messing around the other day and tried some things. Had some left over carbon fiber wrap. Poor quality and not real vinyl makes it look like a cheap sticker. Took that off. Had some extra blue plastidip and did this.
Unfortunately, no pictures. My vision didn't match the outcome. Then I had problems, so I abandoned the project and made window sill plates for the house out of the plexiglass. SM-G900V ?
Maybe you could play with stenciling the letters and or logo with a different color or try to tape those off... its def a start and a new look!
Had less than half a can of duplicolor Clear Effx and went over the engine bay with it. Adds a "sparkly" effect. I'll take some day time pics soon. Might try to black just the Toyota logo in the above pic.
