Project IRX: CRX-Insight Renaissance Experiment - Page 28 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Christ · 09-08-2009, 01:19 AM

They're fairly stiff, but they're not ricer stiff.

I liked them, definitely. They make for a better road feel than OEM, and they're not harsh on OEM struts (that's what they're on right now, I'll have to take them off, b/c the struts are OEM from 1989.)

I'm not sure if I have pics of them or not, honestly, but how soon would you need them?

If Will gets a hold of me and meets up with me for those knucks for you, I can send the springs and the knucks with him, and you can swap them out and mail me back the others whenever, if that works for you. (No hurry, they're just going to get cleaned up, boxed, and sit in the corner until I find a project for them.)

SVOboy · 09-08-2009, 01:26 AM

I don't need them in any sort of rush, just want to sit them on my tokico whites to get the car levelled up so I can eventually get an alignment finally maybe

Christ · 09-08-2009, 01:32 AM

I'll see about getting them off before I see Will, then. I might be able to. If not, I can ship them, it's not that big a deal. I'd just rather not have to ship those HF knuckles, if I can get away without.

BTW - do you know how to put springs on without a spring compressor? (It's not dangerous, I promise... In fact, it's safer than using some spring compressors.)

SVOboy · 09-08-2009, 01:35 AM

I don't know the trick. I just use the clamps

Christ · 09-08-2009, 01:44 AM

Ew...

If you just loosen the nuts on the top of the struts, like you're just removing the strut from the top hat, you'll be able to jack it up to release the spring pressure (taking the springs off). You'll also have to remove the lower control arm from the chassis to allow you to swing it down and around enough to get clearance for the spring to fully decompress.

To reinstall them, You set them on the strut with the top hat still bolted to the strut tower, center the spring in the top hat, mount the strut to the strut fork (lower mount), then slowly let the jack down until the strut's shaft pokes up through the top hat. In order to mount the strut in the fork, you may have to release the upper ball joint to gain more travel with the knuckle. It (the strut shaft) will probably go in slightly crooked at first, pushing the bushings out of the top hat, which are easy enough to replace.

It's a fairly straight forward process, honestly.

SVOboy · 09-08-2009, 04:49 AM

Some updates on wiring: Not sure how much more I will end up hacking out of the car. The ignition will probably be the hardest to get going, but I've been prepping the insight harness and the CRX wiring. Tomorrow I will start the actual integration by chopping the insight engine compartment harness into the CRX. With all the ABS wiring removed, it's basically like the CRX stuff, but it'll be easier to use that with the other insight wire harnesses so I will chop the tucked CRX wiring and solder it up to the Insight set up with the plugs removed. As you can see in the last pictures, I've already labeled all the plugs on the insight harness so I can just chop and solder.

Picture time!

Edit: Yes, one of the pictures is an overexposed cat in a box.

Funny · 09-08-2009, 10:06 AM

OMG that is a rat's nest of wires... And a cat in a box? This thread is EXPLODING with amazing deliciousness! I can't wait to see some pics of the engine in the bay, and the interior reinstalled... ChrisT, you are brilliant! I would have a lot of trouble explaining how to work on a particular car from pictures alone. Again, thanks gentlemen, absolutely one of the most entertaining threads around.

Christ · 09-08-2009, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funny

OMG that is a rat's nest of wires... And a cat in a box? This thread is EXPLODING with amazing deliciousness! I can't wait to see some pics of the engine in the bay, and the interior reinstalled... ChrisT, you are brilliant! I would have a lot of trouble explaining how to work on a particular car from pictures alone. Again, thanks gentlemen, absolutely one of the most entertaining threads around.

LOL. I'm going from memory on most of it, honestly. I've been around CRX's and Civics for quite a few years, and cars in general for even longer, and I have excellent visualization skills, so I can see how things will fit together if I have a general idea of them. Thanks for the compliment, though!

SVOboy · 09-08-2009, 06:54 PM

I'm also excited to finally see the engine in the car for good. I just finished wiring in the engine bay harness from the insight. Most of the wires are colour-coded the same way, but naturally there are a few issues:

- radiator fan relay: crx has one, don't think the insight does, going to have to work around that
- headlights: the insight has integrated low-high beams instead of separate bulbs, but I just split the ground and routed the wires separately, so I hope that works.
- horn: crx has two horns, each with two wires. Insight has one with one wire. Not sure how to fix this part yet, I might just get an insight horn, it's probably lighter anyway.

Anyway, right now I'm going to hit to books so I can eliminate more wiring from the car since I'm starting to duplicate things and that's bad.

SVOboy · 09-08-2009, 06:59 PM

Answering one of my questions: the insight radiator fan relay is integrated into a box of relays that is going to go under the dash with all the other engine bay wiring to keep things looking clean. As such, I can delete my CRX relay and just run a single wire to the fan switch plug while grounding out the other wire.