Reviving a 2000 Honda Insight "beater"

[ttoyoda]

Okay good. That hose to the airbox is supposed to let fresh clean air come into the motor to dilute and agitate those evil vapors. The pcv valve and hose then sucks the whole mess out.

Peering through the oil filler hole the head looks pretty clean, no idea on the bottom end.

Thats a real good sign, but you know the old saying: SH1T runs downhill. Also on my cars the exhaust pipe runs under the oil pans, so the paint burns off the pan, so the pan starts to rust, needs painting, blah blah..

[COMP]

Originally Posted by ttoyoda

Okay good. That hose to the airbox is supposed to let fresh clean air come into the motor to dilute and agitate those evil vapors. The pcv valve and hose then sucks the whole mess out.


Thats a real good sign, but you know the old saying: SH1T runs downhill. Also on my cars the exhaust pipe runs under the oil pans, so the paint burns off the pan, so the pan starts to rust, needs painting, blah blah..

wrap the pipe

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Red

Yeah. Looks like she'll be coming up the Grapevine. Which is probably going to be a very slow trip. She can climb just not very fast.

Some hints for climbing long hills in a Insight: 1) Get a running start. You can climb a lot better at 75 than 55. 2) Don't be afraid to downshift. You need to keep revs up for power, and the Insight is perfectly happy doing 65+ in 3rd. 3) I've found that 4th is almost useless. If I start bogging down in 5th, shifting to 4th doesn't help much. Better to go straight to 3rd.

[Red]

True true. Looking up the gear ratios for the trans the whole thing is almost all overdrive....

1st gear ratio 3.461
2nd gear ratio 1.750
3rd gear ratio 1.096
4th gear ratio 0.857
5th gear ratio 0.710

[TheDon]

lol... I found a couple Insights for sale here in FL.. I'm going to check with my credit untion to see if they will give me some money to buy one.
There is a 5 speed, a regulaur automatic, and a CVT for sale in the state.. which one.. lol
Plus.. I saw a prius on a wrecker earlier this week, looked like it couldn't be saved, I'm going to call my junk yards and see if any got it or if they know.

[jamesqf]

There's no "regular automatic" Insight. The automatic transmission is the CVT. A 5-spd will give you better fuel economy, though, since it has the lean burn system which the CVT lacks.

[Red]

If you can get the wrecked one cheap, could be a good parts car.

I agree with jamesqf, you want lean burn and a 5spd. This thing is gutless as is, even a CVT won't make it anymore fun.

[lmiranda]

I love this thread.

Good work!

I just wish we have that kind of car in the Philippines!

[cbergeron]

Red - this is going to turn out to be a great investment when you're finished with it, even with a rebuilt title. I bought my Insight for 11k 2 months ago. Now, the same car (mileage wise, age, etc) is at least $15k.

The Insight is the only car I've ever purchased that has actually appreciated in value. As gas prices continue to rise, I expect for the trend to continue.

[TheDon]

http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/car/721228052.html

here you go.. parts car

I would buy it but he is asking too much for a car with a salvaged title and some missing sheet metal (that is not supposed to be removed)