Honda Insight Under-body Smoothing Panels (custom belly pan / undertray)

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by silverinsight2

...5.9 inches...

Hi SilverInsight2,

Thanks for that nice drawing.

That will come in handy when the boat tail starts getting designed!! It's being saved right now!

Jim.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

My Michelin X-Ice winter tires, and the Nokian Hakka R (and Hakka 5) winter tires have very low rolling resistance. They are certainly better than my summer tires. And remember Mr. Kim won the economy run last summer (118mpg) using the Hakka R winter tires.

[silverinsight2]

Jim
Here's a link to the rest of the drawings, enjoy.

InsightCentral.net - Encyclopedia - Honda Insight Scale Drawings

[3-Wheeler]

Hello,

Well, after a long winter, the project can resume and finish the open areas between the rear tires.

This picture shows the mounts that go under the spare tire area in the trunk.



The wood pieces are mounted to the outer edges of the spare tire area. Foam is silicone cemented to the undercoating of the spare tire area.



The blue clamp is holding extra wood spacers, which are needed to hold the foam panel in the correct position and keep it flat.



Shows the foam and related tools on the floor after spending several hours gluing small pieces in place.



Foam pieces covering the muffler and open area.



And the left side now filled-in.



Here's the back side of the panel that covers the muffler. This will be smoothed out and fiber-glassed.



With the back sides of both panels fiber-glassed for strength, the outside can be worked smooth. Quite a bit of spackling is used to smooth the foam after sanding, which fills-in pores of the foam, and allows the epoxy resin to stick better.



All that's left is to finish sanding smooth the foam and then glass up this side.

That's it !! We're done with the under-body smoothing panel project for now.

The only other area needing treatment would be the second catalytic converter and first muffler, which are located in the tunnel, which runs down the center of the under-carriage.

Jim.

[RobertSmalls]

Jim,

It looks very nice, and I'm surprised how close you were able to get to the rear suspension.


How thick is this panel, and how much clearance is there between it and the muffler?

What do you think about using fiberglass + epoxy without foam for the higher-temperature areas under the car?

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

Jim,

It looks very nice, and I'm surprised how close you were able to get to the rear suspension.

When trimming the panel next to the suspension, I jacked up each side of the suspension with a separate jack, while the car was on jack stands, and then got a close look at how close the panel would be to the suspension in that area.

Sometimes "eye-ball engineering" can be done as well without such elaborate measures to get a good fit.

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

How thick is this panel, and how much clearance is there between it and the muffler?

The panels at the rear vary in thickness, just like all the other panels on the car. Each panel is intended to be at least 2" thick, but compromises are always made to get things to fit on the car, and still leave good ground clearance for winter driving.

The clearance at the muffler is only 3/4", and I "tested" this clearance during the highway trip to LaCross last week. No problems were evident in the foam after returning.

I do plan on coating the inside of the panel with white Latex paint, partly for protection from the elements and partly due to the low absorption qualities of the color white. As you know black-body radiation is affected less by light colors and/or reflective surfaces like aluminum foil.

I suppose gluing some foil to the inside would be better to keep the foam cool, even on the hottest day.

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

What do you think about using fiberglass + epoxy without foam for the higher-temperature areas under the car?

Sure that would work, but then the fiberglass would have to be thicker for it's self support features. And a little heavier as well.

The foam seems to work well. Of course I didn't drive faster than 55 mph on the back roads, so maybe Interstate driving would heat up the muffler more. In that case it may be better to slip some fiberglass batting in between the foam panel and the muffler.

I plan on adding fiberglass batting just for better heat insulation in that area. I've used it on the first CatCon in the engine bay since last fall with good results.

Jim.

[aerohead]

Jim,I'm not even going to believe your boat tail whenever you get to it.
The belly looks so good,had you been a neighbor of Von Dutch,he would have been under your car pin-striping it just for the priviledge!
I think the air is gonna take one look at it and just say 'go ahead and have 100-mpg!'.
Really looks great,thanks for sharing all the pics.

[AeroModder]

Very impressive. I'd love to learn how to mold composites someday.

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

...How thick is this panel....

Hi Robert,

Here's another end view of the larger panel to give you an idea of how the thickness varies....

It's still not completely done, since it needs the smooth side fiber-glassed yet, and then a nice coat of paint. It's been 60°F and rainy this week, but warmer weather will come eventually.

I like to glass it in position on the car, so it keeps the exact shape as being tied down to all the mount points.



Jim.

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by aerohead

Jim,I'm not even going to believe your boat tail whenever you get to it.
The belly looks so good,had you been a neighbor of Von Dutch,he would have been under your car pin-striping it just for the priviledge!
I think the air is gonna take one look at it and just say 'go ahead and have 100-mpg!'.
Really looks great,thanks for sharing all the pics.

Aerohead,

It's always nice to hear from you, and your kind words are very much appreciated !!

And yes, the tail extension project is under way.

Just talked with my insurance company about the "addition" to the car, and after several discussions with my claims adjuster, they gave the affirmative that it will be covered on the policy. I still need to get their endorsement in writing however.

The tail lights are currently off the car, and various wood blocks are being attached to form the basis of the mounting system. Holding the extension in this area of the car is by far the most critical, as any downward mechanical force on the tail will be leveraged at the mounts located where the tail lights used to be.

I'm kind of waiting for Richard to post some of his pictures before I start posting mine, since he is the first to propose extending the Insight. I consider him the "grand-father" of the Insight project.

Jim.