I spent the rest of the day stripping out the rear seats. Having never done this in my life, it turned out to be a bit harder than I thought. Eventually though, I did figure it out enough to get them removed.
Being such a pain to remove, I see now why a lot of camper builders avoid this part and decide to just work with the seats folded down. However, this wasn't really an option for me, with such a short vehicle, and the seats not being able to fold down completely flat. So I decided to give it a go at removing them. Never know until I try right?
Unlike normal cars, Hybrids have bulky batteries they have to place somewhere, and the Prius C have theirs under the rear seats. I can't move this stuff, so I will have to build my platform right above it. Doing so is not a safety risk though. I can't get it as flat down as you can with a regular gas car. Just another interesting bump to add to the challenge of this project.
Stripping out this stuff also helps reduce the weight of the car, although I have to admit, I was impressed at how light everything is to begin with. I guess it was necessary to maintain its relatively high MPG.
Another thing worth noting is that I hear more of the road now with the seats gone. An added higher pitched sound.... Not a big deal to me, but I want to make sure I note everything I can think of for future reference....
This includes noting that I used a 14mm ratchet wrench to unscrew all the bolts. The car battery would need 10mm wrenches instead, and I need to do that first before I figure out how to take out the front car seat to prevent the risk of air bags going off.
Anyways, I'm off to late dinner to think more on my next step.
Stripping the rear seats
March 18th, 2017 at 12:19 am
March 18th, 2017 at 01:32 am 1489800741
March 18th, 2017 at 02:08 am 1489802922
March 18th, 2017 at 03:22 am 1489807362
Texan, the platform will most likely be right above the battery, resting on the safety cage (shown in the pic) that I decided to leave there for safety reasons. I don't think this will cause any problems with the batteries seeing as how they were more enclosed to begin with than they are now. Also, I've read no problems from anyone else doing this online. If anything, they say it is an improvement.
Having the car battery inside is actually a godsend for us builders, because it makes it super easy to change the configurations with the battery right there, instead of the usual craziness of running wires throughout the car into a hole drilled through the engine compartment. I don't need to do any of that.
March 18th, 2017 at 03:58 am 1489809521
March 18th, 2017 at 07:35 pm 1489865703