2000 Insight - TLC and ecomodding build

[Daox]

Nice job, and dedication!

I finally threw on the Prius winter tires tonight haha. I stayed warm at 7F and a little breeze, but thats more labor intensive than what you did. Impressive!

I like the rear wiper delete. I'll definitely be doing that. I never use it and scraping around it is a pain.

[Natalya]

Hahaha I just left the rubber grommet in there and covered the hole with electrical tape.

Any pics on what you did to the warm air intake?

Also, your engine bay looks really clean. Do they not salt the roads in Vermont?

[samwichse]

Originally Posted by Natalya

Hahaha I just left the rubber grommet in there and covered the hole with electrical tape.

This mod approved by Juilan Edgar.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Natalya

Hahaha I just left the rubber grommet in there and covered the hole with electrical tape.

Any pics on what you did to the warm air intake?

Also, your engine bay looks really clean. Do they not salt the roads in Vermont?

My old WAI was getting a bit ratty, the RV dryer ducting I used seems to fall apart after a while because of the vibrations, so I replaced it with a fresh piece. It's just attached to the air box and looped around under the 12v battery, zip tied to one of the coolant hoses so it sucks air from behind the cat.

Regarding the clean engine bay, this is Gaptooth's 2nd northern winter. Every time I start to see a spot of rust on something, I unbolt it from the engine, treat it with phosphoric acid, then give it a few coats of either black or clear Rustoleum. Also, after I finish hand-washing the car in the snow, I dump my bucket of soapy water over the engine, plus a few more buckets of hot water to wash off any accumulated salt.

[Ecky]

Brake drag reduction clips installed.

[Natalya]

What are those? I've never heard of those before.

[cowmeat]

Brake drag reduction clips installed.

I ran double sets on my Festiva, and that car would coast farther than my Insight!

What are those? I've never heard of those before.

They're springs that keep the brake pads separated so there isn't any unwanted drag on the rotors. I used to do a lot of p&g in my Festiva, they helped me gain max coast range

[Ecky]

Cowmeat is correct. Drum brakes have springs in them to pull the pads away from the frictional surface, but disk brakes do not. When you release the brake, there's usually still a small amount of friction from the pad touching the disk. Whether these clips are string enough to make a difference is debatable, but they're certainly not hurting anything.

[Natalya]

If I put these in my car do they have a negative impact on braking strength, or is it negligible?

[NoD~]

You shouldn't notice them there at all when you brake. Unless they are installed wrong. Then you have no brakes. Dangerous, but the MPG potential is extreme!