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New here with two 1994 Metros; I just bought two identical Metros needing work and can make one work easily from the two
Topic Started: Jul 22 2012, 10:38 AM (519 Views)
cwatkin


I just got my hands on 2x 1994 Metros that are essentially identical and are the 1.0L 3cyl mated to a 5 speed. Both need work and the problems are luckily not identical so I plan to swap motors and a few other parts and have one good running car. I am here for advice on how to work on these little cars which really look quite simple to work on. I have to say that I am impressed with these little cars and how much potential they actually have.

The first car is a camoflage wonder that someone cut the top off behind the front seats and made into a mini truck. There is some rust and cosmetic stuff wrong with this one for sure and I am concerned about the intregity of the unibody from this custom work. I think the front end is about to fall out of the thing too. Ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. are definitely questionable as there is a LOT of noise and the tires have very odd wear on them. The engine and transmission in this one are great. I was amazed at how well this thing drove and thought the seller was mistaken about it only being a 3 cylinder.

The second car is in much better shape overall but has a burned valve, likely due to lack of maintenance. It has a good transmission and basically new clutch too. I found out that the owner prior to the guy I bought it from doesn't believe in oil changes. He thinks they are some kind of communist plot to make us buy more oil. He will add oil but that is it so this one likely went 20-30k without an oil change! YIKES! The engine will run but I have determined it has nearly zero compression in one cylinder. I don't know the numbering on the cylinders but it is the one closest to left side of the car near the distributor.

So, I am going to swap these motors to start with and then determine what to do with the other car. I did change the oil/filters in both motors ASAP once I got them home and let the good engine in the beater car idle up to temp with 1/3 can Sea Foam in the oil before draining the oil. I am also going to change the water pump and timing belt/tensioner on the good engine for good measure since I don't know the history. I am also going to flush the cooling system and use the best radiatior from the two cars. It looks like EGR and PCV are critical on these engines so they are going to be removed and cleaned too.

I am not sure what I will do with the other car but it will likely depend a lot on economics. If I could fix the engine for cheap and correctly, I would make it a running car again and slowly fix the suspension issues, etc. Odds are that selling it in its current condition wouldn't bring much so I plan to sit on it and decide what to do after I get the other running. I would hate to junk it but it is tempting to pull out all the good parts and scrap the rest since it is an IDENTICAL car to my other one.

Anyway, I will post pictures of them including the beater and will be asking more advice on the other forum categories.

Thanks,

Conor
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Johnny Mullet
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Fear the Mullet

Awesome! Looking forward to the pics.
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evmetro


Welcome
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bogs
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Duct tape heals all wounds

Welcome here :)
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Bad Bent
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Facetious Educated Donkey

Welcome to your new forum, cwatkin! :coffee
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Jittney
Anchorage 92 XFi

Welcome to the forum, cwatkin :coffee
Two for one....nice move :)
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