Project: Zombie Insight (2000 Honda)

[MechanicalRandall]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

Speaking of MIMA, I really need one to make good use of the charger.

Yes now that the DIY kit is only $150 it is only a matter of time for me.

Edit: Ordered, assembled and tested...installing this weekend!

[RobertSmalls]

If you do buy the PCBs, controller, and parts list, I'd love to hear what the total cost of the parts is.



Yesterday I mentioned that leaving the BCM powered doesn't appear to keep the SoC gauge accurate. I was wrong. I put the car to bed with 13/20 bars of charge, and woke up with 20/20. No more recalibrations and forced charge first thing in the morning.

[RobertSmalls]

I straightened out the front bulkhead a little bit. Also, now that I'm getting better at bodywork, I re-did the upper grille block. I straightened the hood, and now it sits correctly on the driver's side. The passenger's side headlight-to-hood gap shrank, but didn't disappear.

Call me crazy, but I think I can feel the aerodynamic difference (primarily in my mpg gauge) with the smaller panel gaps up front.

Here's a before/after picture:





Bondo a couple of low spots, slap two coats of paint on there, and she'll be pretty, by my standards.

Pretty enough for me to start work on the boat tail in earnest? We'll see.

[Angmaar]

What's up with the green Honda logo and isn't it messing with the aerodynamics?

[RobertSmalls]

That's a junkyard hood off a green car. It's actually a clear logo with green paint underneath. I could have removed it to save a few grams and to remove that small lump from the airstream, but people seem to like the way it looks.

Consider it from this angle: That particular aerodynamic defect pretties up the front of the car, and distracts people from my aerodynamically sound asymmetrical grille block.

The can of Bondo says it has a pot life of four minutes. I find I have about two minutes tops before the stuff starts to "tear" instead of going on smoothly. Also, it really doesn't produce a surface that's fit to paint. *shrug*

These results will be sufficient:



I'll throw some weatherstripping in there, call it done, and get to work on more important mods.

[Wonderboy]

Looking much much better "Robert", it looks like some kind of cool alien now rather than a lumpy zombie. Not that I care much about looks, but I'm willing to give people an objective opinion. Keep up the good work!

[user removed]

From the looks of that hood gap in front Robert, I would try to get the latch a little lower, or a couple of good licks to the rod on the hood (that is captured by the latch mechanism) to see if you could close that gap to something closer to stock.

regards
Mech

[Formula413]

I'm sure you've already made some attempt(s) at correcting the hood, but it's probably a good place to invest some time and energy, the aero gain might even be as much as you picked up from the grill block. To make the car really slippery you'd want an airtight seal.

That being said, I know this is a salvage car, and can only imagine what you're up against in that area.

[AJI]

Just read through the thread, interesting project! Definitely looking better and slightly less deformed now you've smoothed off the front end, it looked like it had a bit of a disease before!

Credit to you for taking on an Insight too. I'd love an Insight but I think that not only would I be more than happy enough with the economy figures it could already achieve, but I'd also hate to change a thing about that crafted bodywork. The Insight isn't a particularly common car and I've always been a bit precious about messing with cars that are rare (I get the same about performance cars too).

[RobertSmalls]

Sure enough, I had the hood latch adjusted as high up as it would go. On my way out the door this morning, I moved it a quarter inch downward. The latch can go lower, and I will also have to move the catch upward.

Formula413: it is a salvage car, but the problem is I'm using parts from a car that was in a low-speed frontal collision to repair a car that was in two such collisions. But you're right. I need to *eliminate* that hood gap.

Originally Posted by Wonderboy

Looking much much better "Robert", it looks like some kind of cool alien now rather than a lumpy zombie. Not that I care much about looks, but I'm willing to give people an objective opinion. Keep up the good work!

Thanks, Will. I think the car is going to need a new name soon, and I'm open to suggestions. But maybe that should wait until I make up my mind on the boat-tail.


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I drove 65mi to Rochester today. On the way there, I took the back roads. I took the interstate on the way back. My target speed was 73mph, but I'd go as slow as 70mph if it would allow lean burn. I spent a lot of time in lean burn, and I was impressed with the results. 78°F ambient, winds are calm.

50mph back roads: 91.1mpg for 55.1mi - 0.605gal in 82min
72mph interstate: 62.7mpg for 56.6mi - 0.903gal in 48min

One of these routes is better than the other for me. 0.3 gallons of gas and $2 in tolls versus 34 minutes of my time.

These routes are not door-to-door. It's only the steady-state cruising stuff. Time in transit includes tollbooths in one case and towns in the other.