Dreaming of engine swap Honda Insight into Miles zx40

[rmay635703]

After my fathers zx40 got spun around by a guy running a stop sign my mother has been afraid to drive it.

It still has a dented rear quarter panel that needs to be pulled but is drivable.

My fathers Insight is sitting stagnating in storage with a bad immobilizer and the thought hits me.

The Miles and Insight are virtually valueless, hard to sell and of no use to me at the moment.

Maybe I should swap drivetrains?

I could use a truly mini van that can go a distance and the thing originally came with either 660cc or 1 liter Daihatsu special meaning the Insight engine would be downright peppy turning the 155/65r13 tires

The zx40 has a place for the OEM Insight battery in back (if I wanted it) unfortunately it has one of those rather tall narrow engine bays compared to the Insights long low bay.

Removing the front grill on the miles results in a completely wide open front for extreme getto.

Daihatsu Charade and Move parts fit this van.

Soooo

I am more of a guy that wants technical information like half shaft dimensions and transmission bell housing info and more to ponder for months than to start tearing down and measuring.

I would love to take the whole Insight engine transaxle and all and plop it under but that is very very doubtful.

I have never swapped a liquid fueled engine before so there is that.

My guess is that I would need to make half shafts work but the width may be inadequate which would require me to de ima and mount the engine to a Daihatsu 5 speed which I am told is like an old Toyota

But no info to be found yet on any of this


Any ideas where to start?

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

My fathers Insight is sitting stagnating in storage with a bad immobilizer

My Insight came without a key. Breaking off the immobilizer inside the ECM allows it to start.

[Ecky]

Hoping to have my engine out before too long. Might be able to help.

It's worth noting that the 1st Gen Civic Hybrid transmission bolts up to the Insight's engine, and vice versa. The HCH is an L-series Honda engine, a series shared with the Fit. It would not surprise me if those three cars had a lot of shared measurements.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Hoping to have my engine out before too long. Might be able to help.

It's worth noting that the 1st Gen Civic Hybrid transmission bolts up to the Insight's engine, and vice versa. The HCH is an L-series Honda engine, a series shared with the Fit. It would not surprise me if those three cars had a lot of shared measurements.

Interesting as it may seem I have discovered the Miles zx40 transaxle has the same spline count as a Nissan Leaf Motor and as a 2000 Honda Insight

I have a spare Honda transmission and clutch, might be time for a cherry picker

Really disappointed I didn’t buy the $1000 Chevy Bolt modules from battery hookup, all 6 to a full pack and 300 miles range

Ah well no sale due to Covid

[samwichse]

For those of us wondering what a ZX40 was

I'd say that it would be a fun project. Maybe just skip the IMA and just rip out the stator completely. You would need to add an alternator though. Or leave the stator and just hook the IMA leads to a meanwell supply like is popular for people going full time gasser.

[M_a_t_t]

Julian Edgar has put an alternator on his insight. Might be able to get some info from him if you decide to go IMA-less.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by samwichse

For those of us wondering what a ZX40 was

I'd say that it would be a fun project. Maybe just skip the IMA and just rip out the stator completely. You would need to add an alternator though. Or leave the stator and just hook the IMA leads to a meanwell supply like is popular for people going full time gasser.

Width wise I think is a non issue height isn’t either so the ima could probably stay sadly depth isn’t there, like I said extreme ghetto, take the front end out and flop her forward over the front bumper (aka the whole gray thing in the picture isn’t structural and can be removed for a gaping maw)

[Ecky]

I have no alternator in my 2nd Insight. The Mean Well setup works quite well, and I have reason to believe it's more efficient than an alternator.