Insight edges closer

[Insight for life]

Subscribed!!!

[freebeard]

Like BamZipPow has allowed for with his single-wheel boat tail trailer project.
....
I'll be traveling light,so stock wheels/tires will be necessary (I'm not going to pull a trailer full of additional bits and pieces )

Take a cylinder 24" tall and 26" in diameter, divide it in quarters and knock it over like a stack of nickels. Boom! Boat tail.

One vertical, like a Continetal kit, one horizontal (face up) over the single wheel, and the other two distributed.

[BamZipPow]

Website fer some Insight mods.
Honda Insight Mods

Looks like a perfect method fer adapting Dark Aero II.

[freebeard]

From there:


Hinge line at mid-height, with accordion bellows above and below it, to minimize their expansion/contraction. Else armadillo plates.

[BamZipPow]

A better thread where the OP built one from scratch.
Trailer Hitch for a teardrop camper - Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

[freebeard]

Cut two slots in the stock bumper cover and add tabs to the ends of the aluminum bumper with Heim joints so they don't bind. One quarter-elliptic spring under the center bottom with a bracket adjustable for angle. Or a half-elliptic, with the wheel at one end, the pivot at the other and the trailer body in the center.

You just lost 40lb of square steel tubing, and the whole assembly doesn't try to torque around the centerline.

Or a full width fabric hinge made of conveyor belt material. The mind boggles.

[aerohead]

I took delivery of the car Monday.We jumped it off a battery charger and I drove it as is to my place.
The CRX battery was identical to the Insight's so I robbed it.The car starts, runs,and drives.
Tuesday I dropped the insurance on the CRX and transferred the policy to the Insight.
I also went by the tax office for the title change document.They want the car inspected before the title can be executed and registration.I didn't want to go this far.
She's got 'Maint' light.
She's got 'Check Engine light.
She's got IMA light.
The check engine light will cause a 'fail' at inspection.
She appears to drive just fine with the depleted 144-VDC IMA pack.
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I'll have to get her scanned and see what the codes are.
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Otherwise,she seems to drive okay.At 203,605 miles she indicates an average 53.4 mpg average.
She's the 2000 model,5-speed manual.
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The registration and inspection are good 'til August.I can legally drive the car as long as I have insurance.This will buy me some time unless Dennis objects.If so,I'll have to go to plan-B.
I've looked at some of the IMA battery reconditioning articles.I'll contact some boneyards 'n see about the availability of used packs.
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I'm gonna meet a war buddy in Oklahoma City tomorrow for a few days visit.I may take the Insight,it's only a couple hours drive.She may reveal some new issues.Less than half the fuel of the T-100 also.
Anyway,it will allow me some seat time to acquaint myself with the car.
I test drove one identical to it in 2001.'never thought I'd actually own one.

[Ecky]

It certainly wouldn't hurt to try grid charging it - a weak IMA battery will cause both IMA and CEL. You might be able to get the IMA light to stay off long enough to get it inspected, at the very least. If the car still has auto stop, you can probably get all of the lights to go off for a while at least, as that indicates the battery isn't completely toast.

You can build a charger in an afternoon, or someone could loan you one. You can find diagrams and parts lists in my build thread, if you'd like to model it after mine.

Maint light is the oil change interval indicator. It blinks after 6500 miles, and stays on solid at 7500. You can reset to 0 like so:
1) Starting with the key in "2", use the FCD button (left of the steering wheel) to switch out of "segment" and into lifetime/trip A/trip B (any will work)
2) Turn the key to "0"
3) Begin holding the "trip" button
4) Turn the key to the "2" position, and continue holding "trip" until the maint light goes off (around 15-20 seconds)

The buttons on the cluster are known to get flakey after a while, due to oxidation on the contacts. I replaced mine, but it's also possible to open it up and clean them. I'd try cycling through the "trips" to see if the button is working properly.

[freebeard]

It will be great when it's all 'official', but possession is 9/10ths. Right?

[aerohead]

*I got back from OKC Sunday.
*335-miles.
*15-mph headwind going.
*33-mph headwind coming back.
*Around 89-mph airspeed.
*Road speed:tried to hold 65-mph.
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*Without the IMA assist,she wouldn't pull any kind of grade at all and I probably spent 20% of the trip in 3rd gear trying to hold 65-mph.
*The regular 12-V battery gave out just shy of the Red River and I coasted into the Winstar Casino parking area.
* With sunglasses and glare I couldn't see the 'battery' icon glowing.When the instrument panel went dark I knew I was in trouble.
*Then the chugging began as the voltage became too low for the coil.
*At $189 a night,plus tax,there wasn't going to be any overnight stay,charging the battery in a room.
*Buzz drove me into Gainsville Texas to a WalMart.
*$119 (no core) later,I had a fresh battery and it was back into Oklahoma and Winstar to do the swap.
*I went back to the LOVES travel center where I'd began the trip and refilled at the same pump.
*6.661 gallons,for 50.29 mpg.
*$12.65 for the round trip.
*3.77 cents/mile.
*I'm okay with that considering all the wind and 3rd-gear running.
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*Today I went to the inspection center and jaw-boned with them about the up-coming inspection/title transfer/registration.
*If I pass the basic safety inspection and spend at least $600 (oxygen sensors/cat. converter,etc.) trying to get the check-engine lamp to go off,the DPS is supposed to grant an emissions waiver or time extension for the year which will allow the title/registration.
*I also got the number for Honda Heaven of Fort Worth,so I can find out about salvage IMA packs.None of the local wrecking lots have anything.
*I'd like to do the pack reconditioning myself.
*I also printed off a list of Honda OBD-II check engine error codes.
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The car reminds me of the CRX quite a bit.It will be interesting when the hybrid component is functioning.
I'm gonna run it out to West Texas Thursday,come back Friday.See if the wind conditions are better.Whatever the weather,it's going to be a cheaper ride than the truck.