[DRIVING] 1984 Voltswagen Rabbit Prius Gen 3 ZOMBIE

[jrbe]

this gets rid of the cup holders ie the articulation, the Prius stubs go in and out about 3" if I cut the cups off and weld on a rigid flange what moves?

The vw axles have about 1.25" of CV plunge each. If you convert the Toyota stubs to the same bolting face to bolting face distance as the vw transmission (with the same center location) you'll have the same plunge as the vw transmission had.

[lsh3rd]

Of course, this assumes that the width between the flanges ends up being close to the width of the stock VW transaxle. It seems against all odds that this would be within the same range. I suppose if it ended up being narrower, you could make spacers and use longer bolts, but if it ends up being wider, you are right back to cutting the VW shafts. Maybe cutting and altering a single shaft is easier than mating one manufacturer to another? Maybe in the best worst-case scenario, we only need to alter one shaft?

Of course, then we end up with the problem of maybe the Toyota gearbox ends up interfering with something else like steering or brakes on the Vee Dub.

[Gregski]

1984 Voltswagen Rabbit DIY EV Conversion Motor Mounts Part 4

[Bratitude]

exactly as aragorn said. your making flanges for the VW joints to bolt to.

notice the 6 bolts on the innner vw cv joint? un bolt them....now you have separated the cv joint from the flange.

now you just need a flange that has the toyota splines that go into the prius transaxle.

[arber333]

1984 Voltswagen Rabbit DIY EV Conversion Motor Mounts Part 4

Nicely done! Your welding seems solid.

My mindset to building new mounts was to make them removable or better yet them allow me to directly access the motor and stuff that i would need to replace or service. I would be really annoyed some day if i would have to take complete transmission out because i have to get to the power steering....
Of course i have done it that way and i had to correct it eventually - Murphys law at work .

[Bratitude]

It seems against all odds that this would be within the same range.

why? diffs are diffs, they are all about the same size being they are all driving similar sized vehicles.

also there is many different length vw axles available.

also the steering rack is right on the firewall so no issue there

1984 Voltswagen Rabbit DIY EV Conversion Motor Mounts Part 4

nice that will add some stiffness, but there is the original motor mount right under the rack.
i made a cradle that bolted on to the motor mount and to the front grill section on the cabriolet.

[Gregski]

nice that will add some stiffness, but there is the original motor mount right under the rack.
i made a cradle that bolted on to the motor mount and to the front grill section on the cabriolet.vwunder.jpg

cool I see you made yours run front to back I made mine run left to right

[jrbe]

cool I see you made yours run front to back I made mine run left to right

One of the popular mods on these back in the day was a lower k frame brace. It connected the 2 forward lower control arm bolts together - very similar to your brace.

I'd feel a lot safer with the brace going left to right (as you have it) in an accident. Adding tubes front to back are tricky to make / guesstimate for crash safety.

Most of the mk1's have rotted k frames on this coast. It's surprising to see one in that good of shape. I know you're battling some rust but its looking much better than what we commonly have here.

[Gregski]

then it was time to lay down some dimes, I bet you can't even tell the difference between the last two pics

[lsh3rd]

why? diffs are diffs, they are all about the same size being they are all driving similar sized vehicles.

also there is many different length vw axles available.

One question I would have is how much in/out movement would VW shafts typically allow? I believe the cup type has quite a bit allowable travel, but I'm less familiar with how the VW joints deal with in/out travel. I'm sure you know much more about this given your current project.

Naturally, the diffs will land in a certain range of sizes. It seems that I should probably get over to the Pull-a-Part with a tape measure and a notepad. There are a few vehicles that interest me that could be potential candidates for either a LEAF stack -or- the gen 3 Prius transaxle that I already own. I also considered the larger Camry/Highlander gearbox as an option as well (as previously mentioned in this thread and why I originally voted "other") and I'd be very surprised if this one wasn't wider.

The CV shafts and alignment are probably the most intimidating thing to me personally so if you offer something like your LEAF stubs, it would be well worth it to buy these and build the motor mounting solution around the orientation of the shafts. I consider the CV shafts are something I'd personally need to farm out as it is a leap over my current skillset since it requires a higher level of precision compared to say, motor mounts.

[Bratitude]

One question I would have is how much in/out movement would VW shafts typically allow? I believe the cup type has quite a bit allowable travel, but I'm less familiar with how the VW joints deal with in/out travel. I'm sure you know much more about this given your current project.

the plunge on the type 2 joints is quite a lot. there are aftermarket ones with even more. And more angle.

As for Baja bugs and dune racing.


If the Prius trans axle is proven to be viable, I’ll likely do stub shafts for it. there are soooo many of the trans axle flouting around, it would be good to put them to use.

[arber333]

The CV shafts and alignment are probably the most intimidating thing to me personally

Hm... true...true.
You can ensure allignment by using a threaded rod or two and bubble level. Keep the car on the ground under its weight. Threaded rods go through wheel boss into the diff side. That is to ensure nothing will snag onto the shafts when they move. When you eyeball correct allignment from the top you go down and ensure transmission is mounted so driveshafts are about 15deg up. When you load the car this will go to 0deg. This means you have to account for that move as it means about a 1cm more travel. Free swinging under rotation is the whole idea of CV joints.

[midway]

then it was time to lay down some dimes, I bet you can't even tell the difference between the last two pics


IMG_2889.JPG


dimes.jpeg


IMG_2891.JPG

the seam is not heated up enough, there is no need to rush.

[Gregski]

the seam is not heated up enough, there is no need to rush.

thank you, I am having difficulty seeing the puddle, I run the VIKING 1740 Matte Black Welding Helmet K3282-3

[Gregski]

84 VW MK1 Rabbit Prius Radiator Install

[arber333]

Well thanks for pointing out that thin radiator. I will definitely use it now. I thought that Fiat 500 had the thinnest radiator...

[Gregski]

Well thanks for pointing out that thin radiator. I will definitely use it now. I thought that Fiat 500 had the thinnest radiator...

yup here's what it looks like in the wild (I wanted to do a 3rd Gen Prius Cooling System thread, but thought that's the last thing the world needed right now)

[Gregski]

Gen 3 Toyota Prius Inverter in a 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit

[Gregski]

Scraptastic

one of 900 trial fits

[Gregski]

this inverter bracket aint gonna fugly itself

[Bigpie]

Man you're making my project seem glacial paced.

[Gregski]

Man you're making my project seem glacial paced.

this reminded me of a story that I will probably butcher

two old men sit at a bar and order a beer, one says to the other, what do you do, he says well I'm retired now, but for 30 years I would climb to the top of the town's clock tower at noon and set it to 12 o'clock when I heard a guy play the trumpet, and what is it that you do, well I'm also retired says the other fellow, but I used to play the trumpet every day when that clock struck 12 o'clock in the afternoon!

[Gregski]

and she's in there for good(ish), note the pedestal riser mount thingies

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

That is truly the ugliest bracket I have ever seen in my life. I watched it evolve and am still shocked at its form. If a bracket could have a spirit animal, it would be a platapus... after dancing with a woodchipper. It's like a Picasso of what a bracket should be. Horrendously patchworked, stylistically inconsistent, geometrically outcast, supportively cantilevered, and hopefully at least structurally significant else all you've created is a lump of what could only of the thinnest definitions be called "art" and best placed at the end of a boat chain. What a deeply shameful design. My only solace is that it was immediately hidden by the inverter and I shan't have to gaze upon it again. It's a cointoss whether your car now needs an exorcist or whether I need a rag, some chloroform, and some cartoons to wake up to to forget it was ever under there.

My confidence in the rest of my own build has risen significantly after being subjected to that.

[Gregski]

That is truly the ugliest bracket I have ever seen in my life. I watched it evolve and am still shocked at its form. If a bracket could have a spirit animal, it would be a platapus... after dancing with a woodchipper. It's like a Picasso of what a bracket should be. Horrendously patchworked, stylistically inconsistent, geometrically outcast, supportively cantilevered, and hopefully at least structurally significant else all you've created is a lump of what could only of the thinnest definitions be called "art" and best placed at the end of a boat chain. What a deeply shameful design. My only solace is that it was immediately hidden by the inverter and I shan't have to gaze upon it again. It's a cointoss whether your car now needs an exorcist or whether I need a rag, some chloroform, and some cartoons to wake up to to forget it was ever under there.

My confidence in the rest of my own build has risen significantly after being subjected to that.

lOl, my trucks Prius EPAS bracket has entered the chat