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Building my Metro Supercar
Topic Started: Jul 31 2011, 11:28 PM (19,356 Views)
Johnny Mullet
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Fear the Mullet

We are on LIVE! Sweet. watching now!
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Coyote X


Rear done and starting on front suspension

The back was mostly done except for some minor bracing and needing welded up completely. I finished it up and after it cooled off I put some paint on it. I will probably go over it one more time after the front is assembled and I remove the body to make sure there are no spots I missed but from what I can tell it looks like I have not missed any spots.

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Once the back was done it was time to start on the front. I had to pull out the old brakes and random stuff from the front end. After it was cleaned out I started cutting the front end free. I have no need for something as heavy as what was in there and redoing it will give me a lot more foot room. So I have no need for any of the stock front frame. It was much easier to just cut the entire front frame off and just rebuild it once I get the crossmember set up the way I want it.

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Right now it has spacers on the rotors. I will do away with the spacers and just widen the front end to the correct width. I will also remove all the old frame material and replace the lower control arms with improved pieces that do away with the strut rod. I am not sure what steering parts I will use but I will try and use a Metro rack and tie rods if possible. If it isn’t possible I will probably have to order a custom rack for the width I am needing. Once I get everything cleaned up and ready to reassemble I will have a better idea of what I need.
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idmetro
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Very interesting to watch the project evolve. Looking forward to seeing ti driv under it's own power. Will it be a Mantro?
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VWguyBruce
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Bruce
[ *  *  * ]
Thanks for sharing. Kit Car Magazine is what got me interested in cars very early on as kid. Having started out with air cooled VWs I saw a lot of poorly executed Bradley GT projects.

The Coyote is a great looking car when done well and yours looks to be a great example. I always wondered about the design of the rear of the car. The front and mid-section seemed well thought out but the rear has always seemed slightly out of scale, same thoughts on Bradley GT and Aztec. I wondered if that design feature was because of the VW drivetrain being a common choice amongst builders. I wonder if a functional diffuser/valence ala prototype GT design might beef it up visually. You think the Factory Five DTM designers were fans of the Cotote? Just random thoughts, not trying to be critical of your project. I'm a fan. :)
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Coyote X


Stripping and updating the front suspension

The front crossmember had a lot of stuff welded to it and in general was a pretty good mess. I have most of the old frame cut off it except for one part. I will cut it off eventually but it makes a useful handle for now. I managed to get the lower control arm bushing cut off one side without damaging the frame. I was able to put the new control arms on and weld the lower arm mounts in place. I will do the other side next before cutting the last of the old frame off. Once the control arms are replaced and the crossmember is cleaned up I will widen it so I no longer need wheel spacers.

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After widening it all that is left is to put it in position in the car and build a new frame to attach it. I am planning on running the interior all the way up to the crossmember this time so I have plenty of foot room. The only thing I am still needing is to figure out where to find a wider steering rack.
Edited by Coyote X, Jul 13 2012, 10:58 PM.
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Coyote X


VWguyBruce
Jul 13 2012, 07:33 AM
Thanks for sharing. Kit Car Magazine is what got me interested in cars very early on as kid. Having started out with air cooled VWs I saw a lot of poorly executed Bradley GT projects.

The Coyote is a great looking car when done well and yours looks to be a great example. I always wondered about the design of the rear of the car. The front and mid-section seemed well thought out but the rear has always seemed slightly out of scale, same thoughts on Bradley GT and Aztec. I wondered if that design feature was because of the VW drivetrain being a common choice amongst builders. I wonder if a functional diffuser/valence ala prototype GT design might beef it up visually. You think the Factory Five DTM designers were fans of the Cotote? Just random thoughts, not trying to be critical of your project. I'm a fan. :)
I dont know what the scale on the original mclaren the car was based off of was like in the back. But I figure it is probably close since they need room for the V8 and transaxle to fit in there. It is probably not exact since they had to modify it to fit the VW wheelbase and track. I am hoping this time my car is done well and I can finally just start driving it every day and put 20k miles a year on it. I have always built my cars to go to the absolute extreme end of whatever goal I had in mind so the cars have never really been good to drive except for the one thing they were made to do. This time I plan on making a more well rounded car even if that means I can never get 400mpg again. Because realistically there isn't a lot of difference between 60mpg and 400mpg when you only put 10k a year on a car.

I think the VW chassis thing was a good thing and a bad thing for kit cars. It was good because it gave a cheap platform so a lot more kits could be sold but it was also bad because now kit cars are always connected to crappy old cheap vw powered junk.

I finally have a plan on how to get the front end back together and it should not be a big job so I am hoping just a few days will get it back on the car. Once it is back in the car I will be stripping the metro down and having everything steam cleaned. I can't really just slap a greasy old engine in something as nice looking as that frame :) but either way it is looking like I will have a pretty decent car to bring to geopalooza next month.
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bogs
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Duct tape heals all wounds

Dang, I missed the live show :(
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Coyote X


I will probably go back up to the garage and work on it in a few hours after the storms pass through. I could always broadcast again if anyone is interested.
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bogs
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Duct tape heals all wounds

Very interested, also, many others may not have been able to see the initial broadcast but might want to see the run (like myself).
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Coyote X


in probably 30 min to an hour I will be broadcasting again from my garage. I am hoping to finish cleaning up the front crossmember then cut it in half and widen it a few inches. Then it is time to clean it up and assemble it.

With luck I can get all that done tonight since I got more cut off wheels :)

http://justin.tv/thompson9000 I will have text to speech running so if you join the chat room you can talk to me with just a bit of lag
Edited by Coyote X, Jul 15 2012, 06:49 PM.
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Coyote X


Front suspension ready to install

Today I finished cutting off the old frame parts and cleaned up the crossmember. After that I just had to cut it in half and widen it 5 inches. I welded on plenty of bracing to hold it solid. It might be a bit of overkill on it but I would rather have an extra 10lbs of weight in the front than have it weak. I painted it and put the new control arms on it. I don’t have the springs or shocks on it since nothing is installed permanently right now until it is in the car.

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After I get it installed and squared up in the car the frame is for the most part finished. I will have a bunch of minor details to do like welding on mounting tabs all over the place but that stuff is minor work I can do as I need it. The only problem I have to solve now is to figure out a good set of parts for the steering rack. I need something 5 inches wider than stock now.
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Nappers
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This is a great thread.

You guys on this forum are artists!
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bogs
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Duct tape heals all wounds

Thanks for leaving the vid, caught it during my off hours :thumb
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Coyote X


watching a recording of me work on a car has got to be the most boring thing ever. I will prob broadcast again tonight if I can figure out where to put the camera. Tonight is trying to mount the front end.
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Bad Bent
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Facetious Educated Donkey

Coyote X
Jul 17 2012, 03:22 PM
watching a recording of me work on a car has got to be the most boring thing ever.
I kid you not...

http://www.watching-grass-grow.com/

Updated ever 2 seconds. :-/ "Not as interesting at night ... but incredibly exciting during the day!"
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