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| 1998 Metro Rebuild; New Headliner & Tint | |
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| Topic Started: Jan 25 2010, 12:42 AM (954 Views) | |
| Dgeo | Jan 25 2010, 12:42 AM Post #1 |
Advanced Member
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Today I finished my wifes metro rebuild and trans swap. I started over Christmas week and have been working on it since, when I've had time. It was a was great project and I learned a lot about these little cars. Below is a list of new parts and some of the many pics along the way. Pistons, rings, and all engine bearings Water pump and Oil pump All belts and gaskets Rebuilt Head Delta Cam 3tech +6 cam gear Clutch Swift Trans (3.52 gear) - Man this is a tall geared trans!  I purchased the car in Virginia and drove it home to SC. Nothing like buying a used car and driving it off the lot 450+ miles home. Headlight connector under dash about caught fire, check engine light came on, and the oil light came on too. Plus it wouldn't down shift into 1st or 2nd.  Let the tear down begin  Head and intake removed. Learned you can't remove just the intake, because of two bolts that can't be loosened...  Taking the crank pully off was so much fun. I didn't think you could torque 8mm hex head bolts to 10,000 ft-lbs! Used the JM approach with 2x4 against crank.  The comppression was 130-120-185 from cylinder 1 - 3. Here is a pic of the head. Three looks the worst, but had the best compression   Taking the crank pully gear off was a joy also, but I came up with an idea  I got a log splitting axe that had at least a 4' hollow steel handle. With 2x4 wedged between block and crank, bang, it broke loose... Trans removed  Finally engine removed, both by hand and by myself.  Took engine completely apart. Engine cylinders honed and ready to start reassembly  Had a local shop press on my new pistons. The rings took some time for me to get on correctly and the compresson tool took some time getting use to.  Go them all in with new crank and rod bearings.  Cleaned up the intake and replaced rotted vacuum lines.  The check engine light was on when I drove the car home and suspected the EGR valve after hearing all about it on this forum. That was it....  I installed the new clutch and placed the engine back in the car. The proved difficult with just a jack and wood to hold the engine..  Next up was the trans, which I thought would be easier than the engine. Not so. It took me a while and dropping it about three times to realize the engine was sitting to low.   Installing the head gasket I looked at the drain back holes. I knew there were many discussions on these. I looked closely at my 1998 service manual and could see that one of the holes was bigger in the illustration, so In larged that one(upper right).  The other looked close to the one in the manual. Rebuilt head and intake installed. Hooked up all the hoses and wires  Got radiator, battery box, hoses, clutch cable, and other things connected.  Installed delta cam and 3tech cam gear. Note on cam gear..be careful. I was careful in lining up timing marks, but the new cam gear mark didn't line up excatly with mark on valve cover. I had the make a choice, to the right or left of the valve cover mark. Going right was closer than if I went left. Crap  didn't work car was pinging. Went back today and moved cam mark it to where it is before mark on valve cover...bingo...pinging gone.   All together and fired on first try    Ran it for ~20 minutes above 2500 rpm and then drove it around for 15-20 miles. It runs good and that swift trans has high gear ratios. I'll see how it works over the next 1500 miles..... |
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| Metro Fanatic | Jan 25 2010, 01:04 AM Post #2 |
 
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Beautiful! Well done. I hope to be able to do work like that some day. Is this your trade or are you a shade tree mechanic or just engine savvy? |
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| wikityler | Jan 25 2010, 01:11 AM Post #3 |
Some say...
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How did you get the trans and block so clean? They look jet washed. |
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| bogs | Jan 25 2010, 03:20 AM Post #4 |
Duct tape heals all wounds
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That was AWESOME  I stand in stunned admiration for your skills sir 
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| Dgeo | Jan 25 2010, 06:23 AM Post #5 |
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Advanced Member
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Not my trade. I've liked working on engines since I was young. Had many sleds(snowmobiles), dirt bikes, go karts, and worked on a few cars. This is the first car engine I rebuilt. My experience has mostly been two strokes. |
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| Dgeo | Jan 25 2010, 06:26 AM Post #6 |
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Advanced Member
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Used some Gunk engine degreaser, but mainly a wire brush and wire wheel on a cordless drill. The wire brushing worked out well. When the engine and trans were out, I scrubbed down the engine bay too. |
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| billy508 | Jan 25 2010, 06:55 AM Post #7 |
billy508
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Good post and a great job. Thanks for all the great pictures. Looks like you did quality work 
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| Mr Murf 59 | Jan 25 2010, 07:23 AM Post #8 |
Looking like a lost Irish tourist
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I'm with Billy Great looking build. +1 |
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| Mr Murf 59 | Jan 25 2010, 07:25 AM Post #9 |
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Looking like a lost Irish tourist
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If you get to not liking how tall those 3.52s are. I'll buy them from you. Or I can come up with something shorter. |
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| Johnny Mullet | Jan 25 2010, 08:22 AM Post #10 |
"Geo Whisperer"
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Wow! You did a great job! So with the purchase price of the car and the parts for the rebuild, how much do you have invested? Doing it yourself saved some big bucks! I bet with all the info on this site, my wife could rebuild a G10. Drive it easy and change the oil at 500 miles for the first run. It might take about 1000 miles for it to totally break in. |
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| Mr Murf 59 | Jan 25 2010, 08:24 AM Post #11 |
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Looking like a lost Irish tourist
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+1 |
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| enginedoctorgeo | Jan 25 2010, 08:49 AM Post #12 |
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Nice, may you be served with many maintenance free miles! |
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| Dgeo | Jan 25 2010, 11:24 AM Post #13 |
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Advanced Member
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I would like to thank JM and all the people of this forum for the great information. It has been a big help. Below are the costs for everything. Purchase price - $1,700 wanted to pay less, but couldn't get the sales guy to go down. loved the color for my wife. Clutch kit -$105 Engine Rebuild Kit - $255 Rebuilt Head - $175 Trans - $250 Cam - $100 Cam Gear - $40 Misc - $100 oil, hoses, belts, plugs, wires, ect.... Total - $2,725 New running Metro with better mpg than hybrid- Priceless
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| Bad Bent | Jan 25 2010, 07:08 PM Post #14 |
Facetious Educated Donkey
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Really great! Thanks for the pictures. Just over $1000 for the engine and transmission, not bad. The Wife happy, may I ask? 
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| Dgeo | Jan 26 2010, 06:16 AM Post #15 |
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Advanced Member
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I think so. I'm driving the car for the next three weeks to break it in. It'll be hers after that. I hope to be getting 55+ mpg....
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