Prius Limo???

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prius Limo @ Sep 9 2007, 12:33 PM) [snapback]509661[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Malarkey @ Sep 9 2007, 12:53 PM) [snapback]509669[/snapback]</div>

I agree, I also would love to see the interior.

 

Lass, get over it already. Now you know what it's like to be a copper in the witness box. It happens, so what.

 

Gee I wish my parents defended everything I told them with such vigor. No, really, Dad that weed was left in the car by some strange dude that just happened by at a stop light and it must have dropped out of his hat when he bent in the car to see if we had any spare change. We didn't even notice it at all, really. Lass you are a good dad.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Sep 11 2007, 02:32 PM) [snapback]510738[/snapback]</div>

This string has spent most of its intrigue thanks to those who helped solve the mystery. It has been most entertaining to watch it all unfold. Some great questions concerning the construction of the car were asked along the way. I will answer a few of them here as time permits. I built the car to function like a minivan with the convenience of one door for every primary seat. Nothing fancy inside. Note the three bucket seats in the middle row that hold the child restraints.

No one submitted a shot of the front of the car. I don’t think we were going that fast! : ) Here is a photoshop…(gasp) oops, I mean photograph:

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Sep 11 2007, 02:32 PM) [snapback]510738[/snapback]</div>

This string has spent most of its intrigue thanks to those who helped solve the mystery. It has been most entertaining to watch it all unfold. Some great questions concerning the construction of the car were asked along the way. I will answer a few of them here as time permits. I built the car to function like a minivan with the convenience of one door for every primary seat. Nothing fancy inside. Note the three bucket seats in the middle row that hold the child restraints.

No one submitted a shot of the front of the car. I don’t think we were going that fast! : ) Here is a photoshop…(gasp) oops, I mean photograph:

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Malarkey @ Sep 9 2007, 02:53 PM) [snapback]509669[/snapback]</div>

My previous post does not allow the third picture tio be viewed. Below you will find an interrior view from the rear.

By the way, Priuschat has a remarkable group of participants! Compared to other car chat rooms, the contribuitons are observent, useful, and curtious, for the most part. I am learning a lot from the various threads.

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Malarkey @ Sep 9 2007, 02:53 PM) [snapback]509669[/snapback]</div>

My previous post does not allow the third picture tio be viewed. Below you will find an interrior view from the rear.

By the way, Priuschat has a remarkable group of participants! Compared to other car chat rooms, the contribuitons are observent, useful, and curtious, for the most part. I am learning a lot from the various threads.

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prius Limo @ Sep 13 2007, 04:01 PM) [snapback]512129[/snapback]</div>

Amazing. How much did it cost you to make this happen.
What was your MPG before and what is it now? All that extra weight (even if counting just the 6 passengers) must be putting its toll on MPG, unless you did some mods, we are unaware of. Spill it!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prius Limo @ Sep 13 2007, 04:01 PM) [snapback]512129[/snapback]</div>

Amazing. How much did it cost you to make this happen.
What was your MPG before and what is it now? All that extra weight (even if counting just the 6 passengers) must be putting its toll on MPG, unless you did some mods, we are unaware of. Spill it!

 

The reactions are probably due to the cynicism people have developed
about stuff they see on the internet. Y'know, "I read it on the
intertubes! It MUST be true!" ... so everything on the internet is
now considered patently false or designed to steal your identity
until proven otherwise. Given the rampant and completely controllable
problems that plague the networks and aren't being controlled in the
slightest, I would say that it's a largely justifiable approach.
.
However, supplying as much *independently verifiable* info as one can
around an observation or assertion and making NO pretense about what
is as yet unknown can go a long way towards credibility.
.
_H*

 

The reactions are probably due to the cynicism people have developed
about stuff they see on the internet. Y'know, "I read it on the
intertubes! It MUST be true!" ... so everything on the internet is
now considered patently false or designed to steal your identity
until proven otherwise. Given the rampant and completely controllable
problems that plague the networks and aren't being controlled in the
slightest, I would say that it's a largely justifiable approach.
.
However, supplying as much *independently verifiable* info as one can
around an observation or assertion and making NO pretense about what
is as yet unknown can go a long way towards credibility.
.
_H*

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TheForce @ Aug 20 2007, 10:16 PM) [snapback]499537[/snapback]</div>

The Force offered an incredibly accurate description of how this car might have been built without even consulting the voodoo advisor! He is right on every count except the paint. The following are pictures of the process that illustrate his points. The color, by the way, is azure pearl, a scion color.

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What I want to know is, whatever happened to the short ends from the two donor Prii?

I wonder if the two leftover short ends could be spliced together to form a super-sporty 2-door Prius Coupe. :lol:

Great job on the stretch! If it had been Tuxedo Black and has a wet minibar in the back, it surely wouldn't have looked out of place shuttling movie stars and other VIPs around. B)

 

Very cool, Prius Limo. I'm impressed. Your infamy here is assured, regardless of what else you do.

Any thoughts on a pickup?

edit: My daughter calls your car a 'prelim'.

 

How did you extend the exhaust and the orange HV battery power cable?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ChristoB @ Aug 15 2007, 04:01 PM) [snapback]496395[/snapback]</div>

Here is an introduction to the fabrication process. You will see all the parts came from two wrecked Prius bodies with the exception of some filler material and beams for strengthening the uni-body. The hybrid drive system was not modified. I might be interested in adding a battery pack at some point. That would allow me to recapture more of the increased kinetic energy resulting from the extra weight. Any ideas for optimizing the efficiency of this design are welcome!

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Prius Limo do you think you could bring your Prius to Hybridfest next year? Please?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000 @ Sep 14 2007, 03:40 AM) [snapback]512414[/snapback]</div>

The original battery cables are made of a 1/4th inch stranded aluminum cable covered by a layer of thick insulation and then a grounding sheath made of woven copper strands. It is like very large shielded cable used in control wiring. The shield is important to provide a safety ground incase of a compromise in the cable insulation. It also serves to contain the electromagnetic induction in the high voltage wire that would otherwise interfere with the communication going on between all the computers on the network. My splice simply duplicated the original construction. I used aluminum crimp on fittings to join the cable ends, and covered the joints with self adhesive shrink wrap tubing. Then the braided copper went on over that with its own layer of insulation to protect it from corrosion. It was soldiered to the exposed ends of the original shield. The hybrid system is constantly monitoring the voltage potential of the shield to open battery and inverter contacts in case of a short.

The exhaust extension is just a piece of 1 ½ “ stainless exhaust from an auto parts store.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusOwner004 @ Sep 13 2007, 04:23 PM) [snapback]512145[/snapback]</div>

The price was small. The cost was high. We have less than $10,000.00 in it. All the parts came from two cars with non rebuild able junk titles. I was able to recoup a portion of that by selling and using the leftovers. The drive train had only three thousand miles on it. However, the bigger consideration was the time involved. It took seven weekends and more than 200 hours of my time. Over all, I am very pleased with the outcome none the less.

The MPG is reduced by the increased weight. We get 43 around town and 50 on long trips. You may have seen how we load the car to it’s new capacity at times. When I am alone, I have gotten as high as 56 mpg. It is interesting that the highway mileage is affected the least by the modification. One positive is the shape. The longer body style results in a lower coefficient of drag than the original hump shape in the short version. However, the increased mass requires more from the engine and upsets the balance in the hybrid synergy drive engine motor relationship. I have more regeneration potential on a given stretch of road than I had with the shorter version. This might be the perfect application for an extra battery pack. Any thoughts?

 

Rear view will be very hard if not impossible. How do you deal with it? Do you have a backup camera?