I just acquired a new project vehicle

The front frame rails are bent (but not that much). I did know this before I bought it though. The drivetrain is functional and everything from the strut towers back is A-OK. So far it still looks like my 3 to 4 grand to fix it is holding up.

 

The labor is the kicker. It's a hobby to me (and my wife) so I'm not on any kind of schedule to have it fixed. Another big this is that it was sold at auction under the assumtion that it did not run. Someone swipped all the relays out of the relay box so that made it non-opperational. I was able to fix it and drive it around before I bought it from the salvage dealer that bought it at auction.

 

Time for more pics!



After I got the passenger fender off I was relieved to see no damage to the strut tower area. You can see where the welds broke on the apron and it tore away.



The wiper cowl and the inverter cover are off. Watch your fingers! (don't worry, the batteries are all unhooked)



And out goes the inverter.



With the inverter out I can now pull back the fuse block and really check the damage.



The front apron has twisted up and ripped away from the frame rail. The frame rail is also bent slightly toward the outside of the car. Fortunately the frame rail is not ripped so I think it can be tweaked back into shape. The apron will be replaced.



The passenger side is not quiet in as good of shape. The apron is badly mangled and totally ripped away from it's welds and the frame rail is bent and crushed. I will have to replace the front rail extension on this side as well as the apron.



Now for the good news: The distance between hood bolt holes is perfect at 1408mm! The distance between the forward strut tower bolts was dead on also!



Here is an interesting little tidbit: This car was built in November of 2007 and the starter block off plate is upside down. I though this problem was resolved? There was already a wear mark on the harness after only 5500 miles.

 

The salvage dealer that I bought it from had 3 salvage Priuses so we just swapped over the relays from another one. After I looked at the relay diagram on the fuse cover lid I determined that the one that is there now is the only one required to get it to start. The others are for the headlights, ABS system, and cooling fans. The salvage dealer dug through his pile-o-stuff and found one that work so he could put the relays back into the other Prius.

 

Nothing really exciting. Mostly at this point I'm just buying a bunch of stuff. Pictures of credit card statements would be kind of dull. I should have most of the interior parts soon as well as most of the replacement structural parts. There will be a flurry of pics than.

 

I have labeled each connector and hose with what they were hooked to as well as the tiedowns for the harnesses. I also have one of those chest of drawer type parts holders that has 50 little drawers. Each one has a label for were the screws and bolts came from. It takes a few extra minuets to do that but reassembly should be a breeze.

 

Here is a small update:



After a lot of spot weld cutting, grinding, and hammer time the new drivers side apron fits!



After some examination (and curses with the drivers side) I decided to just "fix" the passenger side apron. As squished up as it was most of the welds were still intact so a few "gentle" pulls was all it took to get it 90% back into shape. Some more hammer and dolly work after I replace the damaged frame rail extension will make it OK enough for me.



Ahhh, the new radiator housing assembly. Once the passenger side frame rail is on that will be the next item to be put on.



Most of the interior is in. My drivers side airbag, clock spring, and seat belts got delayed so they will be in soon.

I'm hoping to bolt some of the major metal pieces together this weekend for test fitting before I weld it up. I have already tried out the new drivers side fender as was tempted to leave it since it make it look more like a car...

 

Here is the update that should have been posted this weekend but got postponed by a table saw, my thumb, the local urgent care center, and some stitches.



I did some under hood repairs. I fixed the damaged connector for the generator, the starter block off plate, and the thrashed hose.



Here is the new new passenger side frame rail.



Here is how much of the new frame rail I actually needed.



The old frame rail is now history.



And here is the now frame rail temporarily screwed in place. I also gave up on the passenger side apron and just decided to use my new one.



And here is the drivers side apron temporarily screwed in place.



Tests fit of the bumper renforcement.



Now I can test the radator support assembly. It fit OK but the drivers side does not fit quiet right.



At this point I needed to test fit the body panels to see just how much more tweaking the support system needs.



The whole driver side is out of whack by about 10mm. I have a good idea where the problem is though. The passenger side is off a bit also but when I fix the driver side it will be OK.



The bumper fit better than I expected considering how far off the driver side is.



Something is missing....



Much better.

 

Cars are my hobby. My dad taught me the basics (he was an aircraft mechanic) and I have just built on it from there. The bumper is a used bumper that has the factory paint job on it. It's Seaside Blue so it will have to be resprayed.

A mm? I brought my calipers home from work and they are accurate to .01mm

 

It's between the engine and the starter/generator down low on the car. You can see it better from below looking up. If you are looking up at the car from below find the oil filter and go to the drivers side about 12" to 15" and it will be on the front side of the engine where the starter motor would be on a gas only car. You can also do a search here for "starter block off plate" and you should find more info on it.

 

A minor update:


My clockspring FINALLY came in so now the interior is back to showroom condition!