Insane man cuts up original 1967 Firebird to mount on Prius chassis

"cletus44 aka Clayton Seams" (cletus44) 03/04/2016 at 09:56 • Filed to: None

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So this guy bought this awesome 1967 Firebird in 1979. His late Father even found the car for him. He met his wife in this car, made lots of memories in it and its trusty V8 carried him around for decades. So now he’s cutting it up to turn it into a FWD hybrid.

Yup. The build thread on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! goes into gruesome detail but the original Pontiac V8 and rear drive layout are soon to be replaced by the silent whirr of a Prius V being routed through the front wheels. The conversion is certainly a feat of garage engineering but WHYYYYY??? I am so distraught. Hold me, oppo.

fourvalleys > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:01

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I first bought the Firebird in July 1979

Oh, whoa.

EL_ULY > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:01

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awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:03

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SOMEONE CONFISCATE THIS GODDAMN CAR FROM HIM THIS INSTANT

vondon302 > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:04

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That’s not going to end well.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:04

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I’m surprised I’m not upset about this. Looks like the Firebird’s frame is good, so it'll probably wind up another one of the many Firebird bodies that are out there.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:04

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What a terrible, terrible creature.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:06

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This makes my soul cry...

gmctavish needs more space > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:07

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Okay....I could kind of get an electric conversion, maybe, that would still be stupid, but why in the actual fuck would you combine it with a Prius?? This guy needs some different meds....

TheRealBicycleBuck > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:15

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Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:17

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I’m ok with this.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:18

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If it was some rusted-out junkyard hulk being restomodded I’d be all for it, but cutting up a perfectly good car...? Why the fuck?

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:21

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I’m not even mad at this. Seriously - The 1.8/hybrid from the Prius is probably making about as much power as the tired and beat up 400 before it finally seized. For a weekend cruiser and an auto show oddity, it’s cool. And if he can make it stand out from the literal hundreds of first-gen F-bodies at every car show ever, then good on him. I’m tired of seeing the same car done the same way at so many auto shows. Maybe this’ll inspire someone to build a high-performance CRX Hybrid from a Civic Hybrid drivetrain and a beat-to-shit 84 CRX DX

66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:22

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Tbh I’m impressed at the attempt of swapping in a prius drivetrain into something, but that dosnt make too much sense to me. Oh well, whatever makes him happy I suppose.

Tohru > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:23

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I hope his wife leaves him. I hope his dog dies. I hope everything he has ever loved starts on fire. I hope the first time he tries to start his abomination the crankshaft snaps in half. I hope his dad rises from the grave just to tell him he was always a disappointment. I hope he gets audited by the IRS. I hope the fleas of ten thousand camels infest his armpits.

Tohru > Logansteno: Bought a VW? 03/04/2016 at 10:23

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It’s already dead. You can’t save it.

Tohru > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 03/04/2016 at 10:24

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you’re a monster too

64Mali > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:25

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Why I think this is an abomination because its a hybrid. I read the build thread and it seems the car was very rusted out in his opinion (I don’t think he gets NE rust) and that the motor was seized and mice had eaten most of the wiring harness. So in that case I don’t feel ass bad for him cutting up this car.

WRXerFish - WRX-Wing pilot > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:25

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DO NOT BLASPHEME

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Tohru 03/04/2016 at 10:27

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Ok.... And your point is.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Tohru 03/04/2016 at 10:30

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There are two Yiddish curses I’ve seen lately - one is “May you have a house with a thousand rooms and be found dead in every one of them” and “Would that he would be made a chandelier - to hang by day and burn at night”. Either might be a trifle harsh for this situation... eh, maybe.

BigBlock440 > gmctavish needs more space 03/04/2016 at 10:36

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I’ve seen a Plymouth Duster (maybe a Dart, but I think it was a Duster) converted to electric. A trunk load of 12 volts and a motor bolted up front to the transmission.

kanadanmajava1 > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:38

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I have been planning to buy that same kind of wheel dollies that he is using under that Prius chassis. They look more solid to me than the ones that have the integrated lift mechanism.

Currently I don’t have any opinions about his project but I hope he finishes it or otherwise that Firebird was chopped up for nothing.

Sam > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:42

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It’s not like there’s any shortage of ‘67 Firebirds. They made over 60,000 of them.

Sam > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection 03/04/2016 at 10:44

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While I agree with you, the Prius doesn’t make anywhere near 325hp (what the 400 was rated at). Now after the engine seized, it was making 0hp, so it was an improvement over that.

Sam > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/04/2016 at 10:46

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Actually it was rusty, the motor was seized, and mice had eaten away the wiring harness. Pretty far from a ‘perfectly good car’.

crowmolly > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:47

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Good luck to him. He’s doing it to be different and I can respect that.

Better this than letting the car rust away until the value is under water.

MonkeePuzzle > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:49

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I like it! drive a prius but without the ugly looks, cool.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > Sam 03/04/2016 at 10:50

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Yes, but only 15,000 convertibles and who knows how many are left.

gmctavish needs more space > BigBlock440 03/04/2016 at 10:52

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That sounds like it would've handled upsettingly, but I wouldn't know where to put batteries either

WilliamsSW > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 10:56

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You're trolling us, right? Has to be - right? Please tell me you're trolling us. /s I'm way too afraid to click the link - if I click the link, I'll either lose my soul or my head will explode with rage. It's Friday, I want to think happy thoughts. Need a Prius with a blown V12 to reverse this...

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > Sam 03/04/2016 at 11:04

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Keep in mind that the 400 was rated at 325hp Gross, and in 72 they were changed to net. So it was closer to 220 from the factory and then after 40 years and 160+k miles, with 60s technology and tolerances, it was close to the 134hp that the prius has.

BigBlock440 > gmctavish needs more space 03/04/2016 at 11:11

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It’s an early 70's compact, it’s not like it was much of a corner carver to begin with.

Also, yes it was a Duster, couldn’t find much else though.

MonkeePuzzle > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 11:18

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“I tried twice to begin a regular restoration of the Firebird, but each time I hit major roadblocks. Rotted floor pans, broken suspension parts, rusted and seized engine and other mechanical parts. Basically it was a mess.”

he got 170k+ miles out of it in stock form. I say this is the best possible outcome for this car!

Peptide > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 11:40

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I can’t find the source, which may explain my confusion, as I don’t understand why he needed to start with an donor car in the first place. Sentimental value aside, I would have ordered reproduction parts as it would have been easier to work with new parts that needed minimal stripping and repair.

Doesn’t make sense on so many levels...

 > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 12:38

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Hope he has a tampon dispenser in the glove box. He is gonna need it.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > WilliamsSW 03/04/2016 at 13:04

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gmctavish needs more space > BigBlock440 03/04/2016 at 15:35

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Oh I didn't mean handling in the corner carving sense, I just meant it would feel weird to drive. I guess you could add a leaf or two

swaptastic > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/04/2016 at 16:57

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I have covered a lot of engine and body swaps but this might be the most unique combination I have ever seen.

tromoly > Tohru 03/07/2016 at 13:27

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On one hand, it’s a shame. On the other hand it’s his car, he can do what he wants with it.

CalzoneGolem > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 03/08/2016 at 10:53

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Tohru > tromoly 03/08/2016 at 15:42

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I'm not saying he can't do what he wants with it, he has that freedom. I also have the freedom to wish comically exaggerated bad things upon him.

tromoly > Tohru 03/08/2016 at 16:45

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True, if this had been the FP then the comments would have been dead serious.

Carry on Dr. House.

NickMaronese > BigBlock440 04/11/2016 at 15:06

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Apparently a decent platform for EV conversions. Ironically one of my first rides in a Mopar A-body, well before I bought mine, was in this electric Dart.