Orange4boy Adopts an Insight. Tune up and IMA refresh?
 

Hello all,

I have not been super active for the past couple of years due to an all consuming house raising, renovation and shop building but I am nearing completion and should have a bit more time to ecomod.

Which brings us to the subject at hand: War_wagon's Lumpy.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AZNV_z6l_v...s640/photo.JPG

War_wagon was sad to see it go. There were tears, I swear. But he can be sure it has gone to a good home and it will be loved. Thanks WW. I know it was hard to part with.

It has a flaky IMA battery and some high mileage issues but otherwise it was well kept. It could use a set of seat covers but That's not a big priority.

First order of business: Sparkplug check and EGR cleaning.

Lumpy? :)

Congratulations! I hope that the restoration is relatively painless!

Too soon!! ha ha :snail:

The car was never for sale, but it needed more time than I could give it, and it needed a good home. It only went because of who bought it. Good luck man, I hope it serves you well.

Crap! Still too soon? Sorry Rob. How long is the "selling your favourite car" mourning peroid? It may have been over ruled by the "I have a new toy" excitement period.

Should we start a support group for ex Insight owners? I can think of two possible members off the top of my head.

+1

Don't know... Rob?

I know Lümpy as the little dachshund in my grade 11 German textbook.

Well it's not a boat, so I don't think it's bad luck to change his name ha ha. I think my friends little kid saw it and asked why the sides were all lumpy at the back, so the name just stuck.

orange4boy, did you retire the Prius?

Prius is still going strong. Loving the Nokian Entyres. Getting ~65 mpg. Been too busy to keep up my log. *hangs head in shame*

Nice to see it stay in the family!

The real question is - did you remember to grab the replacement power window switch I left on the tire of the Previa, or did you forget and run it over??

LOL. I'm such a spaz. Yes, I forgot it was there but I was reminded by a clatter outside. Luckily, I did not run it over! I installed it yesterday! Yay. No more reaching across the seats to open/close the window.

I just ordered the Rad. Found one for $62.50 delivered. Yay internet.

Getting around 65 mpg so far according to the display. Still learning how to squeeze this thing.

Dunlop SP 31 Tires @ 44 (max sidewall) Anyone know if these are LRR?

Answered my own question:

Dunlop SP31 Tires are LRR only in sizes:175-65-15" and 195-65-15". Not in my 175-65-14" Insight rims.

RE92's are my only hope. Darn you Nokian! Where's the insight love?

65 mpg? Hax!!! ha ha. Though I do drive mostly in Richmond traffic, which is terrifying as anyone around here can attest, and not the best place for a car like an Insight and it's tall gears to roll around in. And the tires on it are fine, just leave them! Sorry, I am getting all twitchy because my lil spaceship is gone...like the guy my dad bought his Corvette from back in the '60s, he'd see my pops in traffic and flag him over, then walk around the car and make sure it was being taken care of!

Whoa there, cowboy! I'm not dating your sister! Unless you are a cyborg and both you and the Insight are from another planet where all cyborg machines are related to each other and to one huge mother robot machine who's plan for world domination includes populating earth with sleeper cars which transform into killer car-bots on remote command and take over the world by ruling from the roads, forcing humans back into the wilderness where we fight a seemingly futile resistance by staging attacks on the usurping bots on secluded forest roads with logs and sling shots. If so, then I promise, my intentions are honorable.

Don't get me wrong the Dunlops are good tires. Nice and grippy. I'd rather have these than the RE92's. ( I know... Sacrilege! ) I'm thinking long term here. They will wear out eventually. No need to end in fisticuffs. Ha Ha. At least not until I slam it, slap on a set of 18" air blenders and drop in a riced out Acura engine with a 6" pipe out the back. :thumbup:

p.s I am SO kidding.

Maybe...

Oh, The HORROR!!!

http://www.insightcentral.net/forums...ide-height.jpg

How did you know my master plan?? I have been trying to take your Prius advice, but when my US connection went to order that Optima for me at the place with the best price, it was backordered. Dang, now I have to find one up here. Saskbattery will sell them for $180 ish shipped, but I am trying to find one local I can just go pick up.

I got mine at Lordco with an account. I'll see what I can do.

Ha ha, War_wagon: YKYAAIOW... there's a pile of fir needle detritus and spider webs under your gas cap cover from lack of use while the rest of the car is clean. Why didn't I take a picture?!?

Hmmm, ya I guess it hasn't had any fuel put in it for a while! I put some in before it went to the movie set, but that was in a park so I am guessing it spent a lot of time under the trees.

Since you didn't get a pic, here's one for you. My '87 Celica GT airbox. The white thing at the top is the air filter, and the mess below it is what was stuck to the bottom of it! I am guessing the previous owner drove around in the fall a lot? Needless to say it runs better once I cleaned it out ha ha. :snail:

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2ce3c4c4.jpg

No Dude, that's an organic hemp recycleable air filter from the harrowsmith catalog.

Dang, and I went and cleaned it out! That's ok, the genius I share the shop with gave the Optima from this car you can just see, to the battery recycling guy. It was beside the battery charger, so he figured it was no good for some reason that eludes me. This is why I can't have nice things! ha ha

OK,

Loving this car. It coasts so beautifully. It's quite astonishing. I'm still adding too much speed because I'm used to lower CD cars. It just goes forever.

Done so far: Checked spark plugs. They were excellent. They are indexed on the insight which means they are installed in such a way that the gap is "aimed" in the right direction for best ignition. This is to avoid the lateral electrode shadowing the combustion chamber from the spark. They were almost loose. I guess the crush washers were a bit thin for the job. Will have to replace the crush washers to index them again.

Mods: (I take pains to incorporate reversible mods to preserve the original vehicle.)

Grill blocked with foam pipe insulation. The ten minute job. May do aluminum block later.

Basjoosed the headlights and the front hood with weather stripping. That way it's reversible and almost invisible. I calculated that I blocked about 26 square inches around the headlights and hood! Never underestimate Basjoosing!

Installed low profile wiper blades. Eliminated about 15 square inches of profile area there.

I looked at the under belly to see what I might do there later and I saw that the under panels in front of the tires were missing. No spats! Now I'm on the lookout for a replacement set. Any pointers as to where to look would be helpful.

Shot term plans include moving the 12V battery to the back of the car as low as possible for better weight distribution and handling. It already handles like a go-cart.

As for the 65mpg I mentioned before, That's on highway runs. Tooling around town, I get more like 45-50 ish. Just by the display.

The tires! The tires! Either get RE92's or pump them up!

Do you still have the spare and jack in the car? Every bit of weight loss is a substantial % of the power to weight ratio compared to a 3,000lbs+ car. Better hill climbs, and better mpg. That should free up space for the battery.

Grill block helps a lot on aero. Do a warm air intake as well. You probably want to keep your wipers on in Canada. The "Nut" will give you the most gains.

Yeah, I forgot to mention the tires... They are properly ecomodded. Say no more. I'm not going to get new ones till these wear out though.

I did take out the jack and spare. Not much saving there as it is all so darn light but it is a light car to start with.

I'm not going to remove the rear wiper because even on the insight the boundary layer is thick enough that it must be negligible. Plus, Vancouver. Still, a low profile one is coming.

I guess a tuft test would confirm that it's in line with the flow... Any excuse for a tuft test!

It's already WAI with the grille block. Which gets me thinking... Has anyone cut a hole in the cat shield for a WAI?