Project IRX: CRX-Insight Renaissance Experiment

[Compaq888]

Good progress. Now what modifications will you do the IMA compared to the stock IMA?

[SVOboy]

Originally Posted by Compaq888

Good progress. Now what modifications will you do the IMA compared to the stock IMA?

Nothing unless I get hold of a cheap MIMA

[Compaq888]

Correct me if i'm wrong but your car and a stock insight weigh about the same, and if both cars have the stock IMA so then they will have same mpg numbers. How much more mpg are you expecting from your d15z1 swap to the IMA swap?

[SVOboy]

No idea. All I'm hoping is that it's more and not less. Would be pretty sad if I somehow ended up with less

[Compaq888]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

No idea. All I'm hoping is that it's more and not less. Would be pretty sad if I somehow ended up with less

I doubt it, since you're doing the swap yourself the troubleshooting for problems will be done right. If we didn't have strict emissions in the US I would swapped a diesel with a small turbo into my car. 60-70mpg and 200whp when needed.

I'm happy with more power in my car but my fuel economy fell significantly. I think the Europeans got it right with the diesel engines

[Christ]

Ben -
If you drill through anywhere on the car, you won't be able to tap it. The threads that you see are actually nuts welded to the other side of those holes. The only way you're going to be able to do something like that is to weld a plate to the spot that you want to drill, then thread the plate and bolt it in, or use the cross member, like we discussed last week. The cross member is 1/8" plate, and you can drill clean through both sides of it and use a nut/bolt all the way through. This will also allow you to use the entire length of the clutch cable, while minimizing the length of hydraulic line that needs to be used.

If you still wanted to go ahead with where you were already mounting, you can either weld a plate there and mount it, or you can put a nut on the end of a bolt, hold the nut in place using pliers on the bolt, and weld it to the sheet metal.

Also, if you don't plan on using the tow hook on that side, why not just use the existing holes? Unless you have a modified front cross member or you actually plan on having the tow-hook installed, there's no good reason it couldn't be mounted there.

[Tygen1]

Now I see your need for a larger welder...CV Extending...um, well, ahh... rather then give you the hundred reasons you shouldn't be trying this yourself, I ask "what's the plan?"

I have a buddy who worked rebuilding CV's for a large remanufacurer for a number of years. I'll bug him a bit about this, I'm sure he will have some good input, and he's local and he has an Electric Jeep project in the works

My first thoughts are that you'd have to have the OD of the CV's turned down a bit to make a consistant diameter, then have a sleeve made so they can be pressed in to assure concentricity and cylindricity. I have no idea how thick and how long that sleeve should be... There are specific techniques for welding this type of joint as well. I'll look in my handbook for some inspiration. Yes, I'd want a bigger welder for this. It'd cost about 6K for one big enough...

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Tygen1

Now I see your need for a larger welder...CV Extending...um, well, ahh... rather then give you the hundred reasons you shouldn't be trying this yourself, I ask "what's the plan?"

I have a buddy who worked rebuilding CV's for a large remanufacurer for a number of years. I'll bug him a bit about this, I'm sure he will have some good input, and he's local and he has an Electric Jeep project in the works

My first thoughts are that you'd have to have the OD of the CV's turned down a bit to make a consistant diameter, then have a sleeve made so they can be pressed in to assure concentricity and cylindricity. I have no idea how thick and how long that sleeve should be... There are specific techniques for welding this type of joint as well. I'll look in my handbook for some inspiration. Yes, I'd want a bigger welder for this. It'd cost about 6K for one big enough...

I gotta say, while I've never personally had to do this, I've seen a bunch of them done on custom projects, and hardly ever done with much more than measure/weld.

In fact, davidsfarm (youtube god with a TDI Caravan) did it, I believe, only using the stick axles from the Caravan and the inner flanges from the TDI by sliding the Caravan stick into the tube welded to the TDI flange, then ensured they were square and welded them.

I don't particularly see a need for anything more than accurate measuring and decent weld penetration (I would think that if you can weld 1/4" plate, you're fine) along with a re-balance after completion. I don't really have enough experience to make a recommendation, but I'd suggest stitch welding (many spots all the way around) over bead welding it.

[SVOboy]

Well, going on Coyote X's advice, I went and had these two sleeves machines to match the diameter of the axles, and they're thicker than he said was necessary, so that should be good at least. I think the most troublesome bit will be the straightness, though I'm hopping they'll just go in straight and like it.

Here's a picture of the sleeves:



Not the route I wanted to go, but at this point, what other options are there?

[Tygen1]

Go Go Go!