Got me an Insight...

[MetroMPG]

You know you're an ecomodder ... EDIT: next level ecomodder ... when...

Pulled washer squirters out of hood

[NoD~]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

You know you're an ecomodder ... EDIT: next level ecomodder ... when...

HA! I'm a ways away from that level... I need to boat tail this beast at minimum. But, I will say that I have never needed the squirters. I haven't had wipers on this car at all in over the year I've owned it. So, why not reduce a teeny tiny bit of drag and weight?

Anywho, got off my lazy bum and decided to get some pics posted up on the latest progress.

Here's a quick and dirty cover I made for the passenger mirror:


I removed the headliner and found some nice GPS tracking going on... kinda freaked me out, but I looked it up and its an old lo-jack system. So I can put my tin foil hat away now:


Here's the roof covers (plastidip with expanding foam or layers of aluminum duct tape under it):


Not a real detailed pic, but here is the hood's old squirter hole filled the same way:


Built a tiny drivers side mirror. Sucks because I took the time to build a nice little "aero" cover for it with XPS, sanded it all smooth. Then, sprayed it with plasti-dip, which melted it! Was a mess. So, it's not pretty... its duct tape and plasti-dip and hot glue and... love? lol. It works for now, I'll revisit it another day:



Finally, another new version of the front lower grill cover. This time, it has a removable door for the passenger side, because the radiator doesn't get much, if any, air from this opening. I'll remove it if I decide to run AC (which is very rare). I left a future option for doors or maybe adjustable flaps or whatever on the drivers side. Will definitely block 100% in winter (as most of my drives won't even warm up the engine with my low mileage daily). The ends are double-sided taped on, so as most mods, everything is removable and won't leave any damage. Oh, and the green inside didn't look right, so plastidip sprayed in all openings to keep it "black":



From here, I STILL need the right tires. I need to finish rear belly pan, some smart grill blocking (manual or electronic from the cab, or full automation!) and I would like to play with either an easy-to-remove or even collapsible boat tail. Lots of big dreams here...

[Ecky]

Looks good! Your headlights could probably use a polish.

[NoD~]

lol, you've said that before. Still on the list! If it gained me 1mpg, it would be done today. ha!

Anywho, road trip is completed. I pushed my car into leanburn as fast as it could go the entire trip, which got me anywhere from 45mph to 70mph, depending on the hill. On flat ground, was like 54-58mph average. Pushing the throttle even a hair more kicked it out of leanburn, so it was a real balancing act. While in leanburn, it would often sit around 90-95MPG, but of course purges would drop this average (and it depended if I needed a speed boost for hills or traffic if I pulled off a little for the purge).

I had one 10% grade mountain I couldn't even get 2nd gear at 3K RPM to climb, so I was having to go into 1st and floor it up to 5K to get up it! I pulled over twice for a bit of a cool down as the engine temps were hitting 224*F and intake at 170*F (even with warm air intake removed). That was easily the worst part of the drive.

There was also some construction that forced me into 70MPH, some uphill as well. Didn't wanna be "that guy" holding everybody up, so it was at least 10 miles worth of that.

On flat ground, I saw the meter telling me I was getting ~85MPG quite often, so I think this car, as is, can do it.

Anywho, here are the results:


First tank was metered 79.6, but actual was 81.35. Second tank metered 82.7, but actual was 82.66 (that one was really accurate!). So my trip total was around was actually around 82MPG. I'm totally satisfied with this!

Tires, finish belly pan, and figure out how to get some wheel covers for this beast and I'm sure I can get that up to 85MPG pretty easily. Put on the boat tail (at what, 10% increase) and we might be looking close to 100MPG tanks on the highway! Time will tell... if I ever get to them, lol.

[NoD~]

OK, I need help!

I'm trying to figure out how best to do an adjustable hot/cold air intake system for this car. I think i want something like a 2" T pipe with either a single flap in the middle that closes off one side of the other, or 2 "throttle body like" plates that link together (one on each side) that leaves one or the other open (or anywhere in between). I'm thinking this T would go right off the air box, letting one side aim towards the firewall and connect to the cat converter and the other somewhere down and into maybe the fender well area for fresh air.

Reason I want this setup is for pure control. I needed power on this trip going up those insanely steep mountains and getting 170*F intake temps wasn't allowing this!

So, any ideas? I know I saw where somebody did the exhaust cutout valve, but I'm trying to come up with a more "DIY" solution. I've considered an ABS Tee, or welding some aluminum pipe, but it always comes down to "how do I make the flap(s) for inside the thing?

If I had a 3D printer, I'd probably make 2 half-Tees that I could open up, put the flaps in with control rods, and close the 2 halves to make the full tee pipe. Not sure if 3D printing would actually hold up to those kinds of temps, though...

So, gimme some cheap DIY suggestions!

[Daox]

You could just cut circles out of coroplast and shove a metal rod into the corrugations, and glue it once its in place. Then bend the rod and you have a lever to push back and forth.

I did something similar with a grill block design I came up with:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post343561

[NoD~]

So my IMA battery is definitely going out. Off a fresh charge, it'll get me about 15 miles before getting angry. Noticed it was only when under a heavy load (such as accelerating) so for the last month, I've kept my clutch switch on (except when I get to a stop, I disable and charge). Thus far, no issues. Haven't gotten a forced recharge or anything from it.

So, I think I'm going to make a new switch to a relay that just keeps the clutch switch on at all times, but the brake light will click the relay over to disable for stops.

I do miss the boost of power, but not the constant issues with it. I don't think I could live without the auto start, plus I like the high voltage starter MUCH better than the 12v starter! So... any thoughts on the matter? Seems the best way to go about keeping happiness maximized without shredding wallet or time.

[cowmeat]

I just popped up the little hatch over the big battery and clicked it to the "off" position on Ron Burgundy.

I drove it around like that for months with no ill effects. It still charged the 12V, but I did lose the auto-stop and start if I can recall now.

[NoD~]

I did the same, but wanted to see what I could get away with. Also, leanburn doesn't seem to work well or even at all perhaps with the IMA breaker off. So, I'm gonna try this clutch-switched-unless-brakes work around to see how well it works. Doing it manually with the switches now, which is a pain. Hopefully I can find a little time to wire this up this week. Wiring is mostly there, just gotta... you know... actually go do it.

[Ecky]

I'd probably do the same in your shoes, but I'm vaguely curious about the complete IMA removals. You gain a lot of hatch space and shed weight.

There are a couple of DIY lithium replacements over on IC you might choose to replicate. They all have drawbacks right now, but you can probably make yours a "plug-in" for less total cost than a replacement archaic NiMH pack. That, or maybe look into a motor swap. I bet this car would be a hoot with the new Civic's 1.5T.