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Old 04-02-2018, 07:36 PM   #1 (permalink)
Stacygifford
Eco Storm Chaser
 
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Lubbock
Posts: 174

Nemo - '87 Ford Mustang GT
90 day: 27.26 mpg (US)

K-sight - '02 Honda Insight
90 day: 39.24 mpg (US)
Thanks: 20
Thanked 73 Times in 38 Posts
1st gen insight sleeper build thread 2.0

It has been a LONG process but my dead insight rides again. A few years ago my first gen Insight really just fell apart. dead O2sensor ($250), bad syncros in the trans, trans needed an input shaft bearing (mucho denreo), hybrid battery was on its last leg ($2300). the list goes on. It was going to cost more than I paid for the car to get it back into operation. Selling one of my dream cars WAS NOT AN OPTION! So I put it in storage, and began to collect malicious parts to fix the problem.

The car now has a K24A4 from a Honda accord, and an RSX 5 speed trans. I am still tuning, but as it sits, I get around 40mpg at 75 mph.

I still have a TON to do. such as, make the speedometer/temp gauge work and finish the AC ect.

A word of advice to those thinking about a K swap in the insight. DO NOT waist your money on a complete motor mount kit from Innovative Mounts. they do not support there products, nor do they even remotely fit the car. the motor sits so low that the oil pan is ~3" off the ground and is all sorts of crooked (see pics below)

Parts List
Engine (K24A4 2004 Honda accord 89k miles $150 junk yard
2005 Honda civic knuckles with brake calipers and rotors (larger than stock insight peaces.) 65$
new ball joints (for 2005 civic) 45$
1994-2001 manual Acura integra axles from autozone ~$120 (life time warranty for drag racing!!! lol)
K-Kpro $690
TUNED ADJUSTABLE EP3 PULLEY KIT with belt $150
K tuned budget k swap header $250
Motor mounts. good luck
Ball joint adapters for $150 plus machine work, or make your own on a lather
The hardest part was finding the following:
2004 RSX base model
Trans, shiftier cables starter, intermediate shaft, clutch, flywheel, soft clutch hose, wiring harness, and ecu $340 ( I got very lucky, the clutch and pressure plate looked brand new so, I reused them.
I sent the ECU to hondata for KPRO version 4 ($690) but unfortunately, its not street legal.... so this will have to be an offRoad vehicle, or I can use an accord ECU and make a complete 1 off wire-harness and reuse the accord ecu and immobilizer and a MASSIVE PITA due to it being completely undocumented. so, that is the way I did it. for legal reasons.

I reused the the hybrid battery cables to relocate the battery the rear of the car.

Please forgive how dirty the cars is, and the awful picture quality
How crooked the mounts were:


The engine actually sat so far forward that the intake manifold, the alternator, and ac compressor would all hit the core support... how useless.
So with some help from a friend with a C&C plasma table we made a new engine mount, then butchered the trans mounts.

You can see just how much we had to move the motor.





Problem solved.








I made a laptop mount for mu storm chasing gig. It also doubles as a displays for all engine parameters via a USB connection



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California98Civic (08-04-2018), Ecky (04-03-2018), fusion210 (04-03-2018), MetroMPG (08-23-2018), pgfpro (07-30-2018), vskid3 (04-02-2018)