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"new" 1991 Geo Metro 3/5 hatchback; It's got its problems!
Topic Started: Jun 27 2010, 02:36 PM (4,119 Views)
GeoStalker
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"Chicks dig me and guys think I'm cool."

snowfish
Jul 2 2010, 06:01 PM
I have the Aluminum one. It's like $75 more. Both materials have their merit. I'm pretty sure the steel one is 3x heavier in weight. Possibly stronger, but mine is made of really heavy gauge plate aluminum and big aluminum rods. I'm pretty sure both would bend about equally if struck. But then we would have more to worry about anyway at that point anyway. :smackface

I went with the aluminum due to the lighter weight and corrosion resistance since it's under there taking the brunt of the attack. I think I would recommend Aluminum for the weight savings. The corrosion resistance is a bonus. Both of us will be adding a considerable amount of weight, with our frame repairs, to begin with. :thumb

Nice sun roof, btw! Lucky!
Thanks. But only lucky if I can get it on the road to enjoy it!!
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snowfish
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Basic GearHead

Chin up, mate! You will prevail! ^o)

Oh, and only $40 more for the Aluminum Brace. Just checked. My second one will be ordered on Monday. :thumb
Edited by snowfish, Jul 3 2010, 01:14 AM.
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rsunsets
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[ *  * ]
I don,t want to rain on your parade but when you say the sum of it parts, what about the sum of your time? The interior parts are worth a lot to guys in hot climates like me, not that I need all of them, but you need to think with your head and not your heart, I love a good project to but there are other ways of feeding that urge. bottom line is your looking at endless heart ache.
Edited by rsunsets, Jul 15 2010, 06:15 PM.
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Coche Blanco
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This is a "hobby" your time isn't really, or at least I don't think it should be, factored into cost.
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GeoStalker
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"Chicks dig me and guys think I'm cool."

Coche Blanco
Jul 15 2010, 06:21 PM
This is a "hobby" your time isn't really, or at least I don't think it should be, factored into cost.
Yeah, I don't charge myself per hour. It's a hobby, pure and simple. I work a stressful 8 to 5 job in sales, so when I get home I like to challenge myself with projects such as this. It's how I decompress. I guess it's therapeutic. If I can get this baby welded right and back on the road, for me it's a rewarding personal victory. If I can't, I'll concede defeat, try to sell it outright for a small profit, and if I can't, start tearing the bad boy apart and sell the parts.

Selling it for parts can be lucrative as well. Once I bought a beater with a nice engine for $200 and make $700 in parts and scrap. That's a nice profit and good use of my time. How many people's hobbies pay them back?

But I understand your point rsunsets.
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GeoStalker
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"Chicks dig me and guys think I'm cool."

Okay, so now that Mr. Mullet has "Black Betty" I can now return my attention to this 91 Geo Metro 3/5 hatchback. It has a collapsed subframe on the passenger side floor, with the frame rail completely snapped underneath and a gaping hole from the rear of the control arm back. However, I couldn't pass up the car. For $300, it has working A/c and a poptop sunroof. Plus the overall body isn't in that bad of shape. I'll need to Tigerglass the rockers and work a few other small dents, but that's it. So here's the car pulled into the garage prepping for a underbody brace to be installed.

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It literally only took me 30 minutes to connect the brace to the control arms! It was probably the simplest thing I've ever done to a Metro. Since it's so simple, I'm going to buy one for my 90. Anyway, I thought I was going to have a problem with exhaust clearance, but I jacked it up to get it out of the way, installed the brace, and secured the exhaust about an inch above it.

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My major problem, however, is found here on the passenger side floorboard. The dreaded collapsed subframe! As you can see from this photo you can actually see the control arm bushing through the hole, which means the frame rail is gone at that point. My plan was to install the underbody brace. Once that was installed, I knew alignment would be correct. THEN I would basically rebuild the floorplan and reweld a new frame rail. But how?

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I went to Home Depot and purchased 1/4 inch steel flat bar. Man this stuff is hard to bend! But I decided to fasten/weld/bolt a new rail from this 1/4 inch material. So I cut a piece, began welding, and here's where I stand by nightfall;

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I'm basically running long bolts from underneath the frame rail up through the floorboard through the steel bar, then welding everything down, zipping off the rest of the bolt, and zipping it flat. I took some old braces, flattened them out, and used them as braces underneath the car.

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It was apparent it was time to quit when my drill overheated and shut down. Oh well, time for a new one anyway. So far this approach is adding a ton of stability to the passenger side. Like I said earlier, I'm basically created a new frame rail, only inside the car. More pics tomorrow.


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snowfish
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Basic GearHead

Nice job 90Metro! :thumb Those under body braces fit a whole lot nice without the converter. My Wife's Metro is going to the exhaust shop tomorrow, for an adjustment, so the brace will fit. I need to get a welder of my own! But first I need more juice to the ManCave. :smackface Thanks for keeping us posted. :popcorn
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cdmccul
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Looks nice! keep it up!
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