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| 1999 Metro restore & mod | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 30 2015, 11:49 AM (2,082 Views) | |
| evmetro | Jan 2 2016, 12:49 AM Post #31 |
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It is great to see the things that you are doing. I love following other people's project threads, and yours has been a pleasure. Sorry to hear about the tired bottom end in your ride. The cheapest way I know of to get it right is to strip the block down to nothing but the rotating assembly, and then have a good machine shop fix it up with new pistons, rings, and bearings. If you get everything off of the block, you can get it all rebuilt properly for under 500 bucks. You still have all the gaskets and fluids to buy, and a fresh ebay head can be had between 200 and 300 if you need to bring that back to life too. |
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| Daox | Jan 2 2016, 11:19 AM Post #32 |
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Advanced Member
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Thanks evmetro. I still have some more to add to the thread as time allows. I'm not too worried about rebuilding the engine. Actually I'm kind of looking forward to doing something I haven't done before. I have done enough head rebuilds that the bottom end isn't intimidating at all. Its just more time into repairs vs mods which kinda stinks. This is a fun car to play with, I just like playing more than fixing. Is it that common to have to replace rings on these engines at just under 130k miles? Or, is it more likely from previous owner neglect? Edited by Daox, Jan 2 2016, 11:20 AM.
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| Daox | Jan 2 2016, 07:00 PM Post #33 |
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Advanced Member
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You may want to stop reading for now evmetro. I've seen your beautiful body work and this nowhere near compares haha. Anywho, my rocker panels had good holes in them when I first bought the car. Passenger side: Driver's side In the one winter it went through like that, things got a fair amount worse, so I decided to tend to it. I am definitely not a body guy, so this is nothing fancy. It is just getting things structurally sound and attempting to stop further rust. I've gotten the driver's side done so far. Driver's side rocker Here is a shot with the carpet pulled up in the driver's die foot well. Time to start cutting out all the rust and to get back to good metal. I did all the reconstruction with flat sheet metal from the local hardware store. Lots of cutting and fitting things up. I welded, ground, and primed as I went along. I used no body filler, so if you look at it you can see work was done. However, its close enough that from 10ft you can't tell. Finally, all primed up. I shot it with a few coats of rubberized undercoating to hide the uneven body work. Heres a shot out in the sun. I have some color matched paint in a spray can that I'll be using over the primer by the door jam as well as touching up around the rear wheel well. However, I still have to tend to the passenger side rocker. |
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| Daox | Jan 2 2016, 07:04 PM Post #34 |
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Advanced Member
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For any other inexperienced body guys, be careful of where wires run when you're welding. I was careful for 90% of the welding to make sure the wire loom behind the rocker was out of the way. Of course, on the last couple panels I had forgotten about it. One day my car didn't start. I pulled up the carpet to find this. Woops! I pulled the goopy wirey mess apart and thankfully only snapped one. The snapped wire got soldered back together and the rest were just taped up. See, good as new! ...kinda, haha. It runs fine so I'm happy. Edited by Daox, Jan 2 2016, 07:06 PM.
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| evmetro | Jan 2 2016, 07:32 PM Post #35 |
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I am always amazed at what you guys have to deal with on the other side of the country. Those repairs look like a lot of hours of work. One of these days if I am on your side of the country, I want to go to a pick n pull and actually look at a rusted out Metro in person, and actually touch some of it. |
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| 1DCGUY | Jan 2 2016, 08:15 PM Post #36 |
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Don't be a "Richard"
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Make the trip to the Minnesota Meet, and I will show you exactly what rust is!! LOL
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| ZXTjato | Jan 2 2016, 08:32 PM Post #37 |
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bass heads
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My dad and I found a metro in the junk yard in Utah that came from back east, we tried to pull the transmission and every bolt just snapped off, the doors were rusted and the only thing keeping from seeing outside was the interior panel, why was this metro in the junk yard? because the front end collapsed due to rust. pretty much could poke a finger through any where from the handles down. |
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| suzukitom | Jan 2 2016, 09:56 PM Post #38 |
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Tom
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I'm convinced that the MK4/5's are prone to begin rusting at the factory weld point where the cross-floor steel latch/brace is located at the mid point of the rocker panels. There is some factory cavity wax evident inside the rocker panels of my 2000 Metro, but the welded structures at the brace appear to block any air flow needed to dry out or to drain condensation buildup. Even in the Pacific Northwest, some paint bubbling will appear around the 10 year point.
Edited by suzukitom, Jan 2 2016, 09:59 PM.
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| Daox | Jan 3 2016, 09:09 AM Post #39 |
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Advanced Member
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A bit more 3d printing fun. Since I run an alternator delete, watching my battery voltage is important, so I picked up a little voltmeter. I redesigned my gauge pod to hold the voltmeter next to the vacuum gauge. Here it is mounted in the car. |
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| Daox | Jan 4 2016, 08:57 AM Post #40 |
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Advanced Member
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And, this update finally brings us to this past weekend. I was starting to loose heat in the car. With some searching here it seems a plugged radiator core isn't uncommon, so a flush was in order. On a nice sunny 25F day, I grabbed the garden hose and went to work. Flush! And, while I was at it, I threw in a 1000W Kats block heater. |
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| myredvert | Jan 4 2016, 10:13 AM Post #41 |
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myredvert
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on the system flush. Using distilled/demineralized water (mixed with the coolant) can help prevent/reduce buildup of deposits in the entire system, e.g., heater core, block, radiator, etc. and keep the system operating more efficiently.Love the Kat's. They recommend the 400W for the Metro, I found and installed a 500W lower radiator hose heater in mine, along with an oil pan heater to reduce startup engine wear. How hot is the regulated temperature on that supper hummer inline model? Isn't it something like 270F or 284F? I would be a bit hesitant to regularly heat cooling system components to a temperature that would be significantly hotter than a serious overheating event.
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| Daox | Jan 4 2016, 12:06 PM Post #42 |
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Yep, I used distilled water (and coolant of course) to refill. I'm not sure what the block heater is regulated at. All I know is its designed to do what its doing, heating engine coolant. I personally don't see any reason to go with a small one. The inlet/outlet ports are the same size. Its not like the Metro engine makes any restriction to stop the coolant flow, and the price isn't much higher. Why not go larger? With the larger heaer I only have to have 30 minutes of warm up time before leaving vs 2-3 hours to get into a warmed up car. I like to use one of those wireless light remotes to turn it on before I leave so I don't even have to go outside and plug in. When I get home I already plug in to charge up the battery, so that part is already done. Edited by Daox, Jan 4 2016, 12:07 PM.
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| Daox | Jan 5 2016, 08:38 AM Post #43 |
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Advanced Member
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One more update and we're all caught up. I also pulled the headlights out of the car over the weekend and polished them. Then, I added a UV protection over it so that it actually lasts more than a couple months. The entire thing was done with a duplicolor headlight restoration kit (part number HLR100). We shall see how long it actually lasts. I did this last year with spar urethane and it lasted okay (needed another coat or two of the urethane for more UV protection). I hope this lasts longer. I used two coats of UV protector on it. Before After |
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| ZXTjato | Jan 5 2016, 01:25 PM Post #44 |
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bass heads
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that stuff says lasting headlight repair? yea they need to test that stuff here in AZ because it lasts all of 10 months ![]() your headlights look good tho
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| aaronvincent | Jan 5 2016, 01:53 PM Post #45 |
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Mr Mojo Risin'
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Same here. Did that "long lasting" fix to my headlights and within 3 months they were yellow as my grandfathers teeth
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on the system flush. Using distilled/demineralized water (mixed with the coolant) can help prevent/reduce buildup of deposits in the entire system, e.g., heater core, block, radiator, etc. and keep the system operating more efficiently.

7:23 PM Jul 10