The Hybrid Convertible Project Prius v

To each his own. The top doesn't go down and I'm not into bow ties...

More on the Firebrid later.

Bill the Engineer

 

Grrrr. Clothes washer sprung a significant leak underneath. Firebrid will have to wait until I get this fixed this weekend. Grrrr.

Bill the Engineer (and appliance repair guy...)

 

Yow! Good luck with the fumigation! Old washer was FUBAR. Crack in the bottom of the tub. Bought a new LG to replace it.

Only had enough time to spin the Firebrid around in the garage to make room for my wife's Prius in the garage before the Halloween mischief starts. It is just sitting on the rear suspension unbolted loose.


There is always next weekend...


Bill the Engineer

 

The present color is a mid-1970's Cadillac gold that the previous owner had applied to the car over 30 years ago. The car's original color, and the color I plan to return to, is 1967 Pontiac Signet Gold. The original color can be seen on the metal parts of the dash and upper door interior panels, which were not repainted when the exterior was done. It can also be seen in the area that was under the rear bumper, which was not removed when the car was repainted.



I plan to make the finished car look externally as close as possible to a showroom fresh Firebird, with the exception of some modern safety improvements like side markers. Internally, now that's a completely different ballgame.

Bill the Engineer

 

First really hard freeze of the season in Ohio coming tonight. The Firebrid project is tucked away for the winter now. The weather will be too cold and the daylight too short to get much done until spring. Time to go back into winter planning mode and build up the hobby account some more. Already working on scanning some dashboard parts to plan how they go together.



Bill the Engineer

 

The best part about being an engineer with a 3D Scanner at work is that I also get to use it at lunch time. These are screen shots of the 3D models of the Firebrid's dash fascia with a Lexus HS250h speedometer aligned with it. The HS speedometer uses the same connector as the Prius V connector and will fit much better into the Firebrid's dash. This is the kind of thing I do to make progress when it is too cold to work on the car itself.






Bill the Engineer

 

All of the old systems were either analog or mechanically driven. ALL of the electrical and electronics of the Prius V will be used in the creation of the Firebrid, so I needed to find the most compatible gauge cluster. The only original Firebird wiring that will be reused is for some of the exterior lighting and the horn, and then it will be spliced into the V cables for those items.

The result will be an almost stock looking 1967 Firebird convertible on the outside, but with A/C, GPS, cruise control and a vastly improved sound system.

Bill the Engineer

 

There is one available but it does not tie into the Prius electronics. It only is useful if you install the modern sensors into the existing GM powertrain. There are a lot of messages and warnings that would not be accessible out of the Prius V powertrain I'll be using. You need to remember that in 1967 the Firebird didn't even have an electronic ignition system. That old V8 has an old points and condenser distributor. The ONLY electronics of any kind were inside the old AM radio (no FM) and that doesn't even work anymore.

At one time I had considered using the original V8 and changing the transmission to the Hybrid Allison from a Tahoe. However a quick look at the numbers convinced me that it wouldn't have been worth the effort it would take.

Bill the Engineer