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Toyohog! 1-of-a-kind Harley Davidson Powered Prius, Street Reg, Full Roll Cage on 2040-cars

Year:2008 Mileage:223134
Location:

Escondido, California, United States

Escondido, California, United States
Advertising:

This ain't no April Fools joke! This here is a 1-of-a-kind, custom built 2008 Toyota Prius powered by a Harley Davidson and it's currently registered and insured to drive on the street. Yes, you could drive this bad-boy to work if you've got the jewels.*

Features:
  • 2 Cylinder air-cooled engine with rock-and-stick technology that replaces the overly-complicated crap that Toyota spent bazillions of dollars and dozens of years designing and I spent a couple hours with a 10mm wrench and some wire cutters undoing. 
  • 4-speed manual non-syncronized transmission with push/pull sequential shift replaces that electro-mechanical slushbox that Toyota calls a "transmission"
  • Points ignition: Because it either works or it doesn't. Spend your OBD-scanner and volt-meter budget on beer instead.
  • 1.75x.095 DOM custom-fitted rollcage with "NASCAR-style" driver's doorbar, and "FIA bars" for additional A-pillar reinforcement. Allegedly this is what you get when you bring your Prius in for the "unintended acceleration" recall**, but I can't swear to that.
  • Unmuffled, straight-though big bore exhaust designed by Basset, because loud pipes save lives and you'll need to drown out the sound of the Earth crying every time to stomp the throttle that controls your S&S "bug-sprayer" carburetor.
  • Oh yea, the throttle: The pedal comes from a 1960s Austin Mini Cooper because I don't trust that "drive by wire" nonsense (see aforementioned "unintended acceleration recall")
  • While we're on the subject of pedals: The clutch pedal is a totally bad-ass chrome job and the cable was replaced in Dec 2013. Some call the pedal a "finger lever". Whatever.
  • Kill Switch: In case removing all of the Toyota electronics, drivetrain, interior, and soullessness wasn't enough to exorcise the factory glitches. It's a total CYA move.
  • Side view mirror "handlebar whips": Because that's how you roll.
  • Sissy bar: It is a Prius, after all.

Boring details:
Engine is from a 1986 Harley Davidson Sportster 883 that's been bored to 1100cc and uses Harley Davidson factory flat-top 1100 pistons. Engine work completed in October 2013. Transmission is stock. Clutch is brand new Barnett extra plate clutch with heavy duty spring and installed less than 2 weeks ago. Car comes with a complete spare 1200 cc, 5-speed sportster engine and trans from 1994 (needs heads reinstalled) that's also belt drive and will need a chain drive conversion spacer installed because the car is chain-drive to the front wheels of the Prius using the original (but modified) Prius differential, cv joints and axles. The differential is suspended using a custom frame with pillow block bearings. Sliding mechanism allows for chain tension adjustments.

Also included are several cylinder jugs, some 883 pistons, some heads, gaskets, new chain and a whole bevy of other spares you may want/need. Why might you need them? Because, after replacing the clutch back on March 23rd, we can't get the currently-installed engine to fire up again. 

BONUS: You'll get a 1986 Hybrid-Davidson pit bike (aka the original motor-donor). It's currently sporting a weedwacker motor that turns a lucas alternator via chain drive, which goes through some electrical do-dads to charge some batteries which in turn power an electric motor. Said electric motor then goes through a jack-shaft arrangement to drive the rear wheel of the motorcycle. "Ran when parked". 

It's still parked. 

Mostly because it won't run no more. 

Kinda like the Prius with the Harley engine in it. I would say you could put the Harley engine back in the bike frame and drive it around, but in case you missed it above, we weren't able to get that 883/1100 engine fired up again after swapping in a new clutch. I'm done wrenching on it. Time for someone else to buy it and wrench on it. Put your own engine in it. Make it a 2-stroke diesel. Or fix the Harley setup and take it to Sturgis. The whole frame that supports the Harley drivetrain is bolt in. It connects to the stock Prius drivetrain mounting locations, front bumper mounts, and the front suspension cradle. It's 100% removable with some wrenches. Nothing was welded into the car's engine bay that would prevent you from bolting a stock Prius drivetrain right back into it.

Suspension is stock Prius. Brakes are more-or-less stock (with all of the abs and electrical stuff removed). All of the non-white panels (the ones that are accident-damaged) are bolt-on parts and easily replaced. The Prius was never in an accident-- the good panels were sold off to fit within 24 Hour of LeMons budget requirements and the damaged "free" panels used instead. The original rear hatch with hatch glass and spoiler, etc, is included with the sale. Currently fuel setup is a carter 2-4psi fuel pump sucking through the stock, unmodified Prius fuel tank. I'd recommend replacing this with a MUCH lighter fuel cell arrangement.

The Roll-cage is a couple of bars and gussets away from being FIA Rally compliant. The main hoop diagonal is installed so that it can be X'd, and so is the roof diagonal. I see no glaring reason it wouldn't be NASA or SCCA legal as it sits. Has passed technical inspection for 24HOL series several times. Car is being sold as 24 Hours of LeMons tech-ready with seat, harness, and hand-held fire extinguisher.

Lots of videos and pictures of it running. Google "ToyoHog" and Harley powered prius and you'll find them. 

Car is located in Escondido, CA.
Email if you've got questions.






*check your local laws and regulations if you're a ninny.

**WARNING: This car is subject to a factory recall and has not yet had the recall work completed. You are HIGHLY ADVISED to have the recall work done prior to attempting the drive this. The inverter water pump and the steering shaft are both the subjects of the recall. (Please, whatever you do, post a youtube video of you taking this in to your local Toyota dealer for the recall work!)

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Auto blog

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Wed, Dec 24 2014

By practically every measure, passenger vehicles in the US are continuing to get safer. With the year rapidly coming to an end, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is releasing its annual list tallying of the scores for the latest vehicles to see how they compare to last year. Judging by the agency's evaluations, the numbers look quite positive. According to the institute, 71 vehicles earned either the Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ rating so far in its testing for 2015. Among the latest winners, there have been 33 TSP+ awards and 38 TSP medalists. That's a healthy increase over the 22 TSP+ and 17 TSP grades in 2014. The figures appear even more impressive when you consider that it keeps getting harder to earn the + designation. In the latest round of testing, a vehicle must offer some form of front crash prevention automatic braking to get the mark. Previously, just a warning to drivers was necessary. This list also illustrates the ways that automakers adapt to new testing procedures. In 2013 there were 117 TSP ratings and 13 TSP+ awards. Then, the IIHS mandated that to be a safety pick, a model had to score Good in the institute's four crash tests, plus a Good or Acceptable in the small overlap front test. That brought a plunge in 2014 to just 17 TSP grades. With the numbers climbing again, companies apparently have deciphered how to perform better. Some brands especially stood out on this year's list. The IIHS praised Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Acura for offering standard front crash prevention systems on some models. Subaru received at least one of the awards for all seven of its models. Toyota also had seven, and the Honda brand did too – though the institute counts the two- and four-door versions of the Civic and Accord separately. Check out the full announcement below and a video about this year's winners. The full list can be viewed, here. Safety gains ground: More vehicles earn top honors from IIHS The number of vehicles earning either of the Institute's two awards has jumped to 71 from 39 this time last year, giving consumers more choices for optimum protection in crashes. The number of winners in the top tier - TOP SAFETY PICK+ - has increased by 11 for 2015, despite a tougher standard for front crash prevention. "This is the third year in a row that we are giving automakers a tougher challenge to meet," says IIHS President Adrian Lund.

Toyota recalls pre-collision system on Avalon and ES models

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