[T1 Terry]

Will you build it as a flip front with the guards, bonnet, grille etc all welded into one section? That way you can get to all the bits hidden under the guards when the front is closed .....

T1 Terry

 

[jclars]

That's a good thought Terry - flip up front. The fenders/guards are forward from where they belong to put the wheelbase on center. The fenders were simply put onto the car to line up the body for preliminary cuts. See 2x4 timber marking where front edge of door needs to be.

Same at the rear. So a great deal of alignment issues are put in play. One thing discovered up front is that I need to reconfigure the AC system to allow more backward position to the fenders. I will have the AC system pumped down next week in order to remove the interfering pieces. I may have to go with a custom condenser coil in the future.

Aw, the gantry. I had a fellow on another forum tell me that I was scaring him and would I draw up my plan for him to look at, as he was a retired architect. Turns out I was pretty close! I doubled up the former floor joists (shop was a two story chicken coop) and put posts under each corner. He even stamped his revisions! Funny, the compliance officer would never have reviewed the various trees we used in the backyard to pull engines, etc.

 

[jclars]

I found this example of a flip up nose kit on an electric Bug Eye Sprite. Get's me thinking!

Front Flip Nose kit

Product Description Videos Fitment Click here for helpful article on flip nose installations! New and updated design! There are a lot of options available for something similar to this on the market, but they're not quite the same as the ones that we offer. We have had these kits specially made...

bugeyeguyparts.com

 

[jclars]

Well, the craft has landed, but some friends visited today and said I could get it another bit lower. So trimming is not done yet, but it is so close that success can be acknowledged. Yes, a 1950 Plymouth Business Coupe body, will swap onto a Lexus GS450H without* outside altering of the exterior body shell. It is a good match.

The *caveat is that the lower Lexus body rocker panel cover, which is plastic, really puts a nice touch on it with the chrome trim. So I may cut the Plymouth fenders to fit around it. Basically the lower door edge will be the fender trim edge.

Not much electrical going on, other than the fact that the Lexus finally died on me, so I need a service garage with Toyota scanning capability. Found one locally, so we'll see what they think of my "Toyota".

 

[jclars]

Have anchored the body in place. A-Pillar made with booger welds so I could remove them in case things didn't end up true after shimming and anchoring other points. However, it settled in nicely, so I will neaten those up even though they are quite strong. Bolt goes through substantial framing, so it can be lifted in the future and then put back accurately.

After anchoring the A-Pillar, I was able to place the front fenders more accurately and found that I do not have to remove the AC piping just yet. They have to pinch together in the front 1" on each side, but I think I can do it without any more butchering. The fenders are more elevated than expected, so any further lowering will have to come through the suspension. I want another 2" drop in front, maybe 1" in back. Can't tell yet until I can view it from more distance outside the shop.

But it is a good match! Lift straps have been removed until I get back to the interior. Looking to use the Lexus rear seats, making a 3 seater into a 5 seater!

Then there's the ICE restart! I cancelled my service call realizing I needed to get the body on for weather purposes. Once I get the hood in place, I will get it back on schedule.

 

[T1 Terry]

Looking good so far. I'm guessing you will add panel metal to fill in the gaps and then spot weld it together, then remove the bolt attachments.
The tyre in the guard clearance doesn't look too bad as it is, not sure I'd lower it, makes it into a real sleeper, looks like it belongs in the group you wait for over lunch, but ends up leading the pack ..... a great feeling if you start out as the last car to leave 😁

Did that with a 6 cyl Alvis, blue printed the engine, massive head and port work as well as piston shape to get the air flow and compression up to where it would perform.
Hide a high flow fuel pump in the bellows tank that was the original fuel transfer method, inline water pumps in the top and bottom radiator hoses (they were originally thermosyphon) started out last at the bottom of a long hill and passed the lot of them ..... we weren't very popular with the purists, but we got lot of back slaps and hand shakes from everyone else .....

These days, an electric motor and inverter in the gutted-out block, no idea where the battery pack would go is the only problem

T1 Terry

 

[jclars]

I am going to declare the body swap effort a success. Last week I was able to get the hood operating on the original hinges, narrowly missing the inverter and 2/0 cables in the RH corner of the engine bay. Lots of trimming on the Lexus inner windshield wiper trough to get clearance.

It is almost weather proof enough to get it into the Toyota mechanic to see what needs to be done to get it running again. I ran out of battery pack power long ago, so it is now not able to be moved under its own power.

 

[jclars]

Bringing up the rear, the Lexus continues to cooperate as the Lexus rear frame rails are spaced within 1/2" narrower to allow the Plymouth bumper bracket to slip in nicely with 1/4" spacers to tighten up the gap. I had to chop the rear panel in places to allow the bracket and bumper skirt to pass, but pretty minimal chopping on this part (unlike the hood hinges!).

 

[jclars]

Life has gotten in the way big time, and 3-4 hours drive away, so many absences are slowing the project down. I returned for the week and dedicated two shop days to getting the front bumper in place, which required shortening the Plymouth bumper brackets and trimming the apron. I fabricated flange ends onto the original brackets to bolt to the Lexus crash bumper mounts. Once again, convenient locations provided by the Lexus engineers!

I finally removed the AC condenser coil and will lower the inverter cooling coil to get more room for the massive Plymouth grille.

Oh, I also removed the rear bumper over riders for a smoother look, but I think I will keep them in the front.

But today is a fishing day for further rejuvenation!

 

[jclars]

I installed new LED headlights last week before having to head out of town again. I was able to use the Lexus harness and thus the switch on the blinker stem.

I am using the traditional non-LED rear lights but have replaced the small 1" round reflectors with amber LED lights for the rear blinkers.

 

[remy_martian]

Those headlights look totally dorky.

Takes away from the look of the car, imo.

 

[T1 Terry]

Those headlights look totally dorky.

Takes away from the look of the car, imo.

I'll reserve opinion on that, until I see them powered on ....... they might look totally functional with the park light and possibly indicator, as part of the white ring around the headlight itself.
If it doesn't work out, there is always the Halogen headlight inserts that replaced the old sealed beam, then the LED headlight globes in place of halogen globes ....

T1 Terry

 

[jclars]

I was so enamored by the dorky LED light show that I ran my small 12v bench battery down to a flicker. I decided to get a more permanent 12v battery closer to the Lexus spec and installed it in the same location as the stock Lexus (trunk). I was showing a friend who was more impressed with the lights than some. But I was getting bored with lights and thought, hmm, maybe I should try starting it. I was thinking wrongly that the 12v system had something to do with the starter not engaging. So I held the button down, and VROOOOMM!!! I had lift off!

It idled until the hybrid battery got to 3 bars and then shut down as it was intended. I then took it out of the shop for the first time under Lexus power! I got the car up to speed on the driveway and the ICE started up. Time for a test drive!

You can see I was not prepared for a test drive with the one rear fender missing and the fact it was not licensed. Also the videographer was not experienced in drive videos, shutting it off just before I peeled out in the driveway.

All I can figure (now that I know that the electric motor starts the engine) is that having sat for 6 months, the hybrid battery had recovered enough residual power to finally turn the ICE over. Luckily, it is an easy starter.

 

[jclars]

Wow, going on 2 months of absence, but I think I alluded to long distance family care issues which continue and then a long stretch where both wrists were in too much pain to work. I continued with one for awhile, which resulted in limited progress, then both hands quit! I will try to catch this thread to current status with several posts.

I did successfully complete the gas fill tube relocation. I hope to hinge the original chrome cap to snap open and appear original when closed. The Lexus computer demanded the air tight cap and venting system, otherwise I might have approached it differently. I can now refuel the combustion half of the car!

John

 

[jclars]

Also added this front plate for fun!

 

[jclars]

This should catch me up, but wash, rinse and repeat for the next month!

After one more short road run, the hybrid battery pooped out. As I was restricted to light duty due to bum wrists, I waited for unsuspecting enablers, er, I mean friends, to stop by to help get the battery box on the work bench so I could begin testing the 40 ea individual 7.2v batteries. This took 3 weeks! Not that I don't have friends, but some snuck away without helping, as they thought they knew what was good for me!

But eventually I got the box on a rolling bench (non-conductive surface!!), and got it totally disconnected for testing.

I used a power source to bring each one up to 8.2v. I used a "hobbyist" pocket charger/discharger to discharge each one to 6v in order to determine minimum Amp hour capacity (6.5). So far, the first six I've tested have failed to reach the minimum. Not trusting that I knew what I was doing, I used a 12v light bulb of known amperage and timed the discharge to 6v. Yup, failures confirmed.

I hope to find enough good ones to justify replacing individual units. Not sure what that means quantity-wise, but a whole so-called "refurbished" used pack is as low as $1200, while single used pieces are $30 each, with unknown pedigree.

 

[T1 Terry]

So, they are Gen 2 Prius batteries on steroids, 40 modules? instead of the 28 modules in the Prius. If you have a look here Gen 2 (2004-2009) Toyota Prius Forums | PriusChat there are some very good threads on rehydrating the modules to bring them back to useable. The important part is getting that pressure relief system working again so it discharged at 80PSI to prevent the electrolyte from leaking through the terminal seals.
They use KOH as the electrolyte, be careful not to allow much air to enter the modules, the oxygen and a few other gasses that make up the air we breathe don't help the modules to remain viable .....

There are alternatives, 5 x LFP cells make up 2 modules, but you need a method of balancing them to avoid wrecking a cell, 7 x LTO chemistry cells equal 2 modules, but again, they need balancing to avoid damaging a cell.
140 cells to build a battery requires a lot of balancers.
These are a good option 192V Battery Balancer | ZHCSolar, but 9 units is not cheap by any means ......

T1 Terry