’46 Chevy Truck Runs On Prius Power

2018 - Volume #42, Issue #1, Page #40

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Pastor Joe Winter fitted his 1946 Chevy truck with a Toyota Prius drive system and now he calls it a Chevyota. The exterior is a classic old farm truck, complete with rust, faded paint and a flat bed. Under the hood, there’s a modern hybrid gas/electric drive.
    “I have fun at car shows, rolling up behind someone in electric mode,” says Winter. “When people come up behind me on the road, they know something’s different when they see the muffler extend through the rear differential. When they hear it running in electric mode, they remark how quiet it is. I say it is a hybrid, but they think I’m joking.”
    The Chevyota is no joke. Winter originally planned to restore the truck with a 350 Chevy engine. Instead, he decided it would be fun to repower with something really different.
    “I traded an old Buick for an ‘02 Toyota Prius and started taking the truck and the car apart,” says Winter.
    At first he was going to just set the cab over the Prius chassis and build a short box on the back. But having once used a subframe to attach a Firebird to a 1956 Chevy, he decided to do that instead.
    He cut the Prius unibody under the rear passenger seat and added a 3 1/2-in. subframe to the unibody floorpan. He then cut the truck in two just ahead of the cab and overlaid the ends of the 2 frames.
    “I ratchet-strapped the unibody to the truck frame, and it looked good,” he recalls. “The Prius just disappeared.”
    Then Winter started welding. He reinstalled the computers and systems so he could start it up and drive it around a parking lot. It worked well, so he finished welding the two together with some structural support from mild steel tubing welded to both frames.
    “The truck frame was heavy, and the Prius frame was thin, but it was really good quality steel,” he notes.
    The beauty of where he joined the two meant that no changes were needed to the Prius’ front-wheel drive, engine or electrical system. The high-voltage battery system replaced the truck’s fuel tank beneath the seat. The Prius fuel tank was relocated between the frame rails under and behind the cab.
    “It uses a very specific type of gas tank, fuel gauge and pump, so I had to retain them,” says Winter.
    Since he no longer needed the truck’s rear drive system, it was gutted to reduce weight. He took it apart, cut the axles back and routed the muffler where the differential had been.
    Once he had the cab in place, he added 2 steel brackets between the firewalls to add strength and make up for the loss of the A-pillar on the Prius.
    Winter was surprised at how well the two frames fit together. He cut the Prius steering column off at the knuckle at the steering box and welded the ’46 Chevy steering shaft to it. It matched up almost perfectly.
    Winter moved the Prius gas pedal and brake into the cab and connected their wires to the computer. He even welded the original truck pedal to the Prius brake. It looks like both come up through the original truck floor panel.
    The original wiring harness from the Prius was patched into the truck cab and taillights. Otherwise it was stock Prius.
    Winter admits to a large belly and needing more room, so he substituted a steering wheel from an old go-cart for the truck steering wheel. He also replaced the truck seat with a rear seat from a Chevy Suburban.
    “It fit perfectly,” says Winter.
    One change he did just for fun was to install a loudspeaker under the hood. “I can make any sound I want come from under the hood,” says Winter. “It plays everything from a ‘hit and miss’ tractor to a locomotive.”
    He has no plans to do a full restoration to the truck body. After all, it is his work vehicle, a truck with the ride and fuel economy of a Prius. “I use it daily, except in rain or snow,” says Winter.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Joe Winter, 4247 Muscovy Lane, Batavia, Ohio 45103 (ph 513 379 4746; jcnhjw@gmail.com).

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’46 Chevy Truck Runs On Prius Power FARM HOME Cars Pastor Joe Winter fitted his 1946 Chevy truck with a Toyota Prius drive system and now he calls it a Chevyota The exterior is a classic old farm truck complete with rust faded paint and a flat bed Under the hood there’s a modern hybrid gas/electric drive “I have fun at car shows rolling up behind someone in electric mode ” says Winter “When people come up behind me on the road they know something’s different when they see the muffler extend through the rear differential When they hear it running in electric mode they remark how quiet it is I say it is a hybrid but they think I’m joking ” The Chevyota is no joke Winter originally planned to restore the truck with a 350 Chevy engine Instead he decided it would be fun to repower with something really different “I traded an old Buick for an ‘02 Toyota Prius and started taking the truck and the car apart ” says Winter At first he was going to just set the cab over the Prius chassis and build a short box on the back But having once used a subframe to attach a Firebird to a 1956 Chevy he decided to do that instead He cut the Prius unibody under the rear passenger seat and added a 3 1/2-in subframe to the unibody floorpan He then cut the truck in two just ahead of the cab and overlaid the ends of the 2 frames “I ratchet-strapped the unibody to the truck frame and it looked good ” he recalls “The Prius just disappeared ” Then Winter started welding He reinstalled the computers and systems so he could start it up and drive it around a parking lot It worked well so he finished welding the two together with some structural support from mild steel tubing welded to both frames “The truck frame was heavy and the Prius frame was thin but it was really good quality steel ” he notes The beauty of where he joined the two meant that no changes were needed to the Prius’ front-wheel drive engine or electrical system The high-voltage battery system replaced the truck’s fuel tank beneath the seat The Prius fuel tank was relocated between the frame rails under and behind the cab “It uses a very specific type of gas tank fuel gauge and pump so I had to retain them ” says Winter Since he no longer needed the truck’s rear drive system it was gutted to reduce weight He took it apart cut the axles back and routed the muffler where the differential had been Once he had the cab in place he added 2 steel brackets between the firewalls to add strength and make up for the loss of the A-pillar on the Prius Winter was surprised at how well the two frames fit together He cut the Prius steering column off at the knuckle at the steering box and welded the ’46 Chevy steering shaft to it It matched up almost perfectly Winter moved the Prius gas pedal and brake into the cab and connected their wires to the computer He even welded the original truck pedal to the Prius brake It looks like both come up through the original truck floor panel The original wiring harness from the Prius was patched into the truck cab and taillights Otherwise it was stock Prius Winter admits to a large belly and needing more room so he substituted a steering wheel from an old go-cart for the truck steering wheel He also replaced the truck seat with a rear seat from a Chevy Suburban “It fit perfectly ” says Winter One change he did just for fun was to install a loudspeaker under the hood “I can make any sound I want come from under the hood ” says Winter “It plays everything from a ‘hit and miss’ tractor to a locomotive ” He has no plans to do a full restoration to the truck body After all it is his work vehicle a truck with the ride and fuel economy of a Prius “I use it daily except in rain or snow ” says Winter Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Joe Winter 4247 Muscovy Lane Batavia Ohio 45103 ph 513 379 4746; jcnhjw@gmail com

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