Ryanthegreat1

Yes! That is the spirit! I have done this with a Toyota Supra to Toyota Pickup 4x4 transmission. Very cool to see it works on a Honda as well.

Also glad to see you are still plugging away at the project.

BongoBennie

Garage is finally done enough to work on a car so its time for an update. I dismantled the red car down to the bare shell, removed the complete wiring harness without cutting anything and broke very few clips. Removed ALL of the brake lines and the much nicer interior. Also all the parts and pieces to swap in the shifter for the manual trans. Now that Im back on the project the biggest difference is I will be working on it at home which is a big plus. Also in the mix is the clutchmasters fx200 w/aluminum flywheel and Kpro. As part of my new garage I also have a TIG welding set up and will be giving my own intake manifold a try although I'm tempted to buy one from Golden Eagle MFG. This will definitely be a busy year for the insight

K7-1Ktrevor

BongoBennie

As far as I know I'll be the first to try. KPro is used on D17, I compared the sensors on L15 vs D17 vs K20a2 and it looks very doable. I will be adding cable TB which would be a bigger deal on a Fit chassis but since Insight is cable already it's not bad. I talked to some experienced tuners who agree. KPro can disable 2nd cam sensor for d17 which is key. I really want traction control and an e85 sensor plus all the V4 extras. Keep in mind I need OBD2 for smog or it would be AEM most likely.

K7-1Ktrevor

Sweet man. That's pretty rad. Having tunability really opens up so many possibilities and especially with fuel economy in mind you can definitely increase it by leaning cruising out.

Alex98

New subscriber here! It's nice to see a build continue to progress. Seems like most build projects hit a snag and the owner bails on the project and sells the car. This is refreshing.

BongoBennie

I've hit a few snags mostly of my own doing, my last build was a week long swap in an ep3 in 06, this one is way more custom not to mention I'm pretty busy with other stuff. As you read my build you can see my mind change several times and there are a few things that I'm still looking at. One is bi fuel with CNG using kpro and the injector driver it could be CNG as a main fuel and E85 under boost (I work next to a public pump). The other idea is adding electric rear drive and turning it back into a hybrid. As crazy as it sounds it wasn't too long ago when I was spending $50 per tank of gas (3 days) in my civic, the reason I bought the Insight in the first place. I drove the stock CVT for 6 months.... hated it. Now that my little home shop is up and running I will make a bunch of posts this year.

K7-1Ktrevor

It's really hard to grasp the idea of a performance build while still keeping fuel efficiency in mind. I have a similar issue with going back and forth with what I want from my car. My game plan is K.I.S.S. keep it simple stupid to start with. I plan on doing my d17 swap and running my pretty stock y8 head, with the mild portwork I've done to the head and intake manifold and use a cx trans off the bat. I know the car will be more fun with an aftermarket cam and a shorter trans but I wanna get a good idea of what an essentially "stock" Frankenstein motor will do for performance as well as fuel economy. To be honest I think it should almost match what I'm getting right now out of the inline 3 without ima working. Then I get to see what works and what doesn't as well as what each change I do to the car has for an effect. All too often I get caught up with build ideas and loose sight of what the real goal is and that's just a fun to drive daily driver that gets killer gas milage. I look forward to seeing how your project turns out man. Just keep at it and do one thing at a time so you can check something off the to do list one at a time. I have realized over the years the cars I enjoyed the most were ones I really had to try to extract power out of and that's a big reason why I went with a na d series for my car.

BongoBennie

So this build thread is turning into my diary, I have come up with a few ideas since this build has started and changed my mind a few times, bought a second car and stripped it clean so I can put one together the right way (got it cheap too).......For my true Insight dream build I just bought a K series AWD 5 speed manual transmission...... but Im a desert guy, remember, I'm going to run 28" off road tires. I cut the parts car chassis into a chassis component jig and will be running a high compression K20a3 hybrid turbo motor with about 200WHP which doesn't seem crazy but it will be at really low RPMs and an efficient and smooth cruise as this will be for long distance driving while towing teardrop on and off road and efficiency still being important. This is a preview post but the car will have a much better build thread for sure..... as for the commuter insight, Im sticking with the Kpro, the manual trans and aluminum flywheel, switching to a shorter wider but all season tire and fixing rear offset with 2001 Accord V6 +55 15" 5 lug rims (for those that use 195s with 23mm 4to5 lug adapters, that's your offset and tire width). Turbo is going away and a long tube header will go in. Since the intercooler stuff is all going away I might redo the A/C fan (make a pusher) and build a steel long tube drop down intake manifold, will be also using a TB from a D17 civic, super cheap. Also Im going so save the Koni RSX struts and go back to stocks but keep the GC coilovers on all 4 as well as the GAZ out back. This car should wrap up rather soon as I finally have the time and money to put back into my car and I can finally do it at home. While it might not be as exciting without the turbo it should still be relatively quick and get good mileage and run forever. then I can get on to the fun stuff.

tony_2018

wow, niice trailer

BongoBennie

This project as it stands is now dead, swapping to manual requires new mounts, axles, and with all the extra fab work still to be done as well as the guesswork still needing to be dealt with on the engine management I am scrapping the L15 and going to the easy peasy K series so the car itself will be built but with different goals and a different thread.

BongoBennie

I figured I'd update this old thread.... This is another car but lots of lessons and parts carried over, pretty much same goals, quick and efficient
K20a2 block K20a3 head nets 11.5:1 CR and at 7K readline is pretty much indestructible
Turbo is GT2554R @ 6psi, Car makes 220whp @ 6500, 195# @ 2500 throttle response is instant
Gearing is 04 Accord 1-5, CRV diesel 4.1, LSD.... 3.4 FD is on order
tires are currently 185/55/16 Toyo Extensa HP
Tune is by Evans Tuning, drives like a Honda

Ryanthegreat1

Hole Lee Sheet! You are still alive! That is a very cool build! Where are the details? Always wondered about a tiny turbo on a big 4 like the OEMs do these days. Monster torque right away. How far does that torque carry? We need a dyno sheet!

Good to know about the 4.1 from the CR-V, what country did that come from? I had heard rumors of a 4.1 but couldn't nail down the details.

That engine is really nicely packaged in there. And AC! Hondata RSX PCM with the output pin reprogrammed for AC? We need details!

Caoboy

Man..I would love that as a daily commuter. I wouldn't get crap for MPG but it would be a riot !!

Ryanthegreat1

Just leave us hanging! Knowing a few thing about how horsepower is calculated, is this approximately what your dyno looks like? That would be a pretty fun power curve!

BongoBennie

Damn, sorry I haven't replied.... I don't check this often.... anyways my original dyno did look like that, I never thought about taking pics but the car has been retuned via email/ Evans Tuning, but yeah, this car is in the pocket ready to pounce at all times, A/C works fantastic and just installed "Scotts Springs" which are upgrades for OEM guys but worked great for me. I've been averaging 33 MPG per tank on the daily and hit 39 on a trip to LA and back hauling *** the whole way...... I'm actually not sure about the CRV and the 4.1.... I know thats what I have but not sure that's the one...... regardless I already have my deposit on a 3.4:1 FD, might drop tire diameter if too tall but I have a good feeling, this car pulls at 1200RPM!! 2200 and the boost starts in and it's all over.

Ryanthegreat1

Super cool! Are you out of flow on the turbine and that is why you stopped at 6psi?

BongoBennie

I figure I have about 20-30 whp in reserve but with summer coming Ill be driving in 110+ temps with AC in traffic so I want to wait a bit. I did just put new Kuhmos on, 175/65/15 on Civic Hybrid rims (waiting on caps)

, car drives much smoother for sure, hoping for some better MPGs