red91sit

Good Evening,

I am beginning the process of building a B16 powered ZE1.

The donor



I've had this car since 2006, and it has served me well. Unfortunately, the years of midwestern, heavily salted winter roads, have taken their toll on the now swiss cheese modified unibody.



The engine is in fairly decent condition, which is impressive considering the years upon years of use and abuse. It has a few minor bolt ons that pep up the limited naturally aspirated horsepower of the old B16A2.




+1000 miles later, and my little F-150 in drag was done hauling this little noisy turd to my new apartment.

The recipient

I was a little bored, so I decided to get a new project vehicle. I started low balling Insights on Ebay until I won this little blue Jelly Bean.



A cheap flight to Masachussettes later, and I was behind the wheel of one clapped out Insight. The interior had suffered through well over a decade of heavy smokers and negligent college students, as was made apparent by the half-a-dozen college parking stickers and the heavy odor of a dive bar mixed with a Bob Marley concert.



The little 3 cylinder fired right up, and I took off on the ~1000 mile journy to my new apartment. The 3rd gear was missing, as mentioned in the ebay advert, the battery was also shot, but I assumed the seller was telling the truth that this was still in daily driveable condition, as he was currently using it as his own dd.

A stock Insight is not a speed machine by any means, a worn out insight, (with a completely plugged airfilter as I would later discover) missing 3rd gear, with no IMA assist is down right dangerously slow. I would say a stock, air-cooled VW bug would give it a good run for its money. I struggled with the wide 2 to 4 shifts as I went up and down the rolling hills of the eastern seaboard. The sun was just going down as I entered the outskirts of NYC. This is when I had a bit of a hickup.

The IMA and battery light have been blinking off and on again the entire drive, like the turn signals of a lost tourist, a warning to be heeded, but not a true indication of what to expect. This time though, they were staying on, I also noticed the wipers were slowing down. Oh ****.... I googled the nearest autoparts store, and hopped off the highway. It went through the typical low voltage signs, the wipers stopped, the radio fizzled out, and the digital dash no longer provided any information. I coasted into the Autozone and found it shutterred for the night. Called a few taxi companies, but nobody was picking up at this location. I stopped by the local bar, and they pretty much confirmed what I was afraid of, pretty hard to get a pickup from this end of town. I downed a few tasty Gin and Tonic's and fashioned myself a little cacoon out of the clothes in my carryon.

I wouldn't recommend trading in your van down by the river, for the front seat of a dirty insight, but in a pinch, it gets the job done. I was up well before the autostore opened, large steamy cup of, nearly NYC's, best shitty coffee in hand. I got the Torx bit neccesary for the battery cover, unplugged the control box, replaced the depleted 12v battery with a functional one, and I was back on the road.



The grindy transmission ensured that I woudln't doze off during this little 900 mile commute that was left, as the shifter would happily pop into the position between 5th and neutral, buzzing away, as what remained of the synchros was transformed into MTF glitter. A few more pit stops to refill the ever burning motor oil were most welcome breaks from the cardboard and tin smphony that is the standard Insight speakers.


/Cat Tax

I'll post more updates shortly.

In the meantime, if anyone has more details or pictures of engine mounts, or solving of the axle issue, I'd love the help!

tony_2018

**** both those cars, i wanna know what build plans you have for the dog!!!

red91sit

Motor and transmission are out, just gotta get the bitch bolt out of the shift linkage now. After that I picked up the car with the harbor freight 3/4 ton hoist, and drug (dragged?) the motor out from underneath the car. Still gotta yank out the wiring harness, drill or press out the bitch bolt, and remove the remainder of the engine/transmission mounts.

doosua

Sounds like a really interesting build. In for more.

red91sit

Somewhere behind here is all the wires and **** i need for the swap




Yay most of the engine harness, miscellaneous connectors are out.



Christmas presents for the pooch

tony_2018

keep up with the progress reports, decent size toy for the dog.

ShinsenTuner

iTrader: (1)

lol the first leg of the project picking up the insight was a riot. Can't wait to see your progress.

red91sit

Engine harness is out, civic is getting parted out. Will update as soon as that's complete.

Spoonfixer

Cool build bro. Im excited for this one.

red91sit

Project is on a brief Hiatus due to some issues with the F OneFiddy

tony_2018

Dog training too?

red91sit

Other cars fixed, so time to rip the guts outta the insight.


The starter crumbled when attempting to remove the power cable, oh well.


Yanked out the cross beam/battery holder thing.


Blue anti-freeze? smells like windshield washer fluid...


Disconnected the temporary engine mount


Puppy Pic

rajallen

I am looking for a used or rebuilt Honda B18c, can you recommend the best place to buy from?

red91sit

Butthole, ****, donkey licking, son-of-a BISCUIT!!!

This progress updates what bolts are siezed up and/or stripped. Managed to get that kite-munching axle out though, so that is no longer holding up the engine pulling.

Next step
1. passenger side axle removal
2. Wiring harness push back through firewall
3. Clutch hose removal
4. Shifter linkage removal (also seized up, might just cut the lines)

If anybody wants a well worn engine, barely working IMA battery, or 3.5 speed gearbox, lemme know!

:EDIT: Pics don't seem to be working, so here is the album link Budget B16 Build (Insight) - Album on Imgur

tony_2018

All picutres are dead...all pictures are DEAD.

red91sit

******' donkey **** ballhair smoking sack of worm lipped monkey brained shitzillas.... Imgur sucks

tony_2018

photobucket FTMFW, or upload them directly here at HT.

red91sit

Motors out, I dropped out the bottom, and lifted the car up and over using an engine mount bolt and a harbor freight engine hoist. Next up motor mount fab and wiring

red91sit

Budget welder purchased

chrisc543

I have one of those as well. splatter is high but its definitely a metal hot glue gun.

red91sit

For the price it can't be beat! Any good tips or tricks you've found?

chrisc543

I bought some better wire that kept it down a little. I'm an amateur welder so I pretty much grind a lot. Lol.

red91sit

I was hoping the hubs would be re use able, but these bolts run into the new axle, so a new setup is in the works.

Blue-Civic-Hybrid

iTrader: (1)

Ive always wanted to do this to my old Insight. Except mine actually worked, everything worked and I easily put 100k on it with no problems.

I miss my tiny Insight but this looks like it will be fun regardless.

expresscar

hopefully this build will be a success bro... although it will take some time and we understand that there will be a hiatus stage here and there but I would love to follow up on these kind of builds