Project IRX: CRX-Insight Renaissance Experiment

[SVOboy]

Originally Posted by Christ

A few things:

1. That d-side axle looks VERY stretched... I hope you're compensating for that somehow.
   Yes, it is very stretched, the other side is compressed. I was having trouble moving it into place and ended up stretching the cv joint completely apart. I need to take it out and take it apart to put it back together again, but I should be able to fidget it into place eventually
2. Check on the HF tranny and pull the mount plate off it. It looks like the plate (not the mount) almost has the same bolt pattern as the Insight transaxle, and could maybe be a starting point for the d-side tower mount.
   By plate do you mean the on the top portion of the transmission where the mount bolts in?
3. The p-side tower mount, flip your original D-series d-side front mount over so that the bolt holes are facing up, bolt a plate to the mount section of the engine, and weld a plate up and across to connect the two. The mount will have to be bolted from the backside.
   I was planning on doing what the k-series guys do, which is to cut off the old mount and weld a new one in, as you can see in this picture:
4. Why does the d-side axle look like it's canted forward from the hub to the engine?
   Canted? Hm?

Responses in red

[SVOboy]

Originally Posted by Christ

A shop will probably over charge you now because you've messed with it, so they'll have to "fix" what you've done.

So you've pressure tested the radiator somehow, and figured out that the original hole isn't leaking anymore, but now you've got a leak at the end tank?

You can *lightly* tap the metal to attempt to straighten it, but it might not work. In any event, heat it up with a propane torch before doing so, and stay away from directly heating solder joints.

Meanwhile, if you've got the $100 or so, get an aluminum rad off eBay to install. If it comes to going to a radiator shop, I can't say for sure what they'd charge you, but I'm relatively certain it will be close to that anyway.

You could also get this one, for $50 with free shipping.

I already have my stock radiator, I wanted to use the half-rad, especially since it'll give me some clearance for the radiator and make the hoses line up like stock for the Insight. I may look into the 92-00 civic half rad but then I need to grind a bit of my car off. How much does your junkyard charge for them?

Also, benefits of having a smaller v larger rad under a nearly complete grill block?

[Christ]

Yes, you could also just weld in new mount locations where necessary.

I don't believe you'll need to change the OEM d-side mount, though.

The plate I'm talking about is the portion that bolts directly to the transaxle's gearbox housing, which then becomes the mounting location for the rubber portion of the mount. It looks as though it will come pretty close to bolting up to the Insight's transaxle, and if so, it may be a good starting point for a mount, which would only need a gusseted plate welded to that plate, then welded/bolted to the OEM D-series d-side engine mount.

The thing about the canted axle is now obvious. You haven't actually placed the engine completely where you'll be fastening it, so that axle looking crooked is a non-issue.

[SVOboy]

It may still be slightly crooked, but hopefully not by much. Evidently what I need to do is smash a huge dent into my rear crossmember with a sledgehammer to shimmy the transmission back up behind there

[Christ]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

I already have my stock radiator, I wanted to use the half-rad, especially since it'll give me some clearance for the radiator and make the hoses line up like stock for the Insight. I may look into the 92-00 civic half rad but then I need to grind a bit of my car off. How much does your junkyard charge for them?

Also, benefits of having a smaller v larger rad under a nearly complete grill block?

A smaller rad would allow less restriction to the airflow that is coming through the grill, but in your case, there won't be much air coming through as-is...

Full-size rad will allow for better cooling capacity with less air. These engines don't really run hot, though, so it's not much to worry about.


Local Yard Radiator Price!

[Christ]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

It may still be slightly crooked, but hopefully not by much. Evidently what I need to do is smash a huge dent into my rear crossmember with a sledgehammer to shimmy the transmission back up behind there

NO! I can't advise against this enough... despite what many people do online, I just can't see a valid reason for making dents in the only structural part your car has.

Now, if you wanted to grind out a nice piece of the upper plate (it's a hollow 2-piece design) and weld in reinforcement and/or gussets, I could agree with that.

Have you tried re-clocking the engine slightly to see if you can get the clearance? Or maybe lifting/lowering it slightly.

The axles don't have to be perfect, but remember that if they're too far off, they'll fail prematurely, and cause torque steer issues and weird feelings under acceleration, as well as odd vibrations.

[Christ]

I have an idea to fix your axle problems, (length issues), but I need to see an image of the back of the block (where the axle passes) on the Insight motor, please?

[SVOboy]

Originally Posted by Christ

NO! I can't advise against this enough... despite what many people do online, I just can't see a valid reason for making dents in the only structural part your car has.

Now, if you wanted to grind out a nice piece of the upper plate (it's a hollow 2-piece design) and weld in reinforcement and/or gussets, I could agree with that.

Have you tried re-clocking the engine slightly to see if you can get the clearance? Or maybe lifting/lowering it slightly.

The axles don't have to be perfect, but remember that if they're too far off, they'll fail prematurely, and cause torque steer issues and weird feelings under acceleration, as well as odd vibrations.

Yeah, I wasn't planning on denting it actually, but (and I don't have a good picture of this) there is like a running 1-2cm pinch weld that joins the two halves that I was going to grind off and then weld back together. This isn't really structural, it was just making the design cheap, as I understand things. So, I'm going to do that for cat/o2 clearance and hopefully a bit of transmission clearance as well, but I don't think I'll pound in the xmember.

Also, you want a shot of the driver side (longer axle) from the rear of the car?

[Christ]

Nope, I actually need a shot of the back of the engine block, so I can see all the thread bosses that are there, and compare them to another engine I have on paper pics.

I'm thinking you may be able to use/modify an OEM intermediate shaft, which will allow you to run the shorter axle on both sides, and add in the extra 1" or whatever you need to the intermediate shaft, so you can center the engine properly without worrying about over-extending or compressing axles.

Basically, a shot of the back (exhaust side) of the block, with the differential housing as the extreme side of the image.

[SVOboy]

There's not one earlier in the thread? I'll look around, you answer my welding question!