Several people have mentioned this rebuilder of Pri in Indiana. His website is autobeyours salvage and rebuildable cars. On a recent trip we stopped in. I was very inpressed with the operation. Steve has a great setup and was very nice to talk to. He has some great parts and cars in the process of rebuilding. Here are some pics.
On his site he is working on a PHEV Prius with a Li ion battery. Here is a pic of the battery. He showed us the work he is doing on adding the extra battery. He also gave is a sample battery to take with us.
He has several parts cars. It was somewhat strange to see all of the Pri taken apart. Here is some more pics.
He has a way of testing the cells. He said that he can replace the individual cells and "rebuild a battery". The sample we got is one of the bad cells. I am going to use it as a door stop. Here is a pic of one of the batteries partially disassembled. He was showing me one of the electric motor/generators.
I've also got a bunch of pics of Steve's place in the second half of my Hybridfest trip log from last summer. Including his convertible. . _H*
I too was very impressed with Steve's operation. I had a lot of concerns about buying a salvaged/rebuilt vehicle, but after seeing the work he does and talking with him for quite a while it was obvious he has a real passion for these cars. I no longer think of my car as rebuilt so much as recycled I would highly recommend Steve to anyone looking for a rebuilt car or used parts for their Prius. He has been very supportive, and great to work with. If we do decide to get a second prius, we'll definitely be contacting him again. Rob Gold '05 Prius #52
Thank you, everyone, really. I have been away from priuschat and am happy to find these posts. Many of you may be interested to know that Carolyn from Luscious Garage and I are testing High Speed Stealth modifications.
isn't luscious garage in san francisco? why is someone so far away used for testing??? back to op... neat... i guess.. fun to see anyway. he basically gave away his dead cells so he doesn't have to pay to recycle them... you took trash and labeled it neat.... probably saved him a few dollars for disposal fees though... high speed stealth?... i hope you add a pump to the HSD so it gets lubricated properly... then again.. i assume the ICE will be turning so lubrication should be provided... well.. as long as you stay above that 46mph or whatever it is exactly. high speed stealth also sounds like a bad idea as the car will have a heck of a time trying to recoup that battery loss. this goes back to phev's now... since you need that extra battery on board to make this type of thing happen... it just seems like a neat thing... almost like an EV button "trick" to show off to friends... but in the end it really never helps the cause.. just kills things faster... i'll be watching for progress reports...
