Mullet's Metro Project

[Johnny Mullet]

Thanks for all the info on restoring the lenses. I see that these may have been done in the past and there is some sorta clear coat that is stuck to the lens and will not buff or sand off. I need to get that stuff off before restoring the lenses.

BTW, Here are some better quality pics of the car cleaned up...........

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by RacerX

This will take some time maybe 1/2 hour or so per light. But patience is well worth it for these lights are $130.00 each (new) aftermarket.

Now I understand why the guy didn't bother haggling with me when I sold a pair of foggy Swift headlights for $45. He probably just cleaned them up & resold them.

Good instructions - thanks for posting.

[FX2.3]

If you need cheap body parts

www.certifit.com

You have to pickup the part at the store. You get to look at the part before you buy it. A New headlight from them for a 98-01 Metro is $110.50, but a hood is only $54.75..

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by FX2.3

A New headlight from them for a 98-01 Metro is $110.50, but a hood is only $54.75..

A new water pump for my Chevy Truck was $24.00 and the serp belt was $35.00

[RacerX]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Now I understand why the guy didn't bother haggling with me when I sold a pair of foggy Swift headlights for $45. He probably just cleaned them up & resold them.

Good instructions - thanks for posting.

Thanks, And your welcome, It does take time, The last pair of lights I did were so bad that I started sanding them with 1000 grit on a Dynabraide phenumatic finishing sander....some are worse than others....I like your website Metrompg. As I get time I read thru it. Boy do I have a pile of questions.... Take care and thanks again.

[Johnny Mullet]

This next mod has to do with my soon to be posted grill block aeromod. I like having foglamps on my vehicle since I disabled my daytime running lights so people can see me and I use less power than the headlamps this way. They also look cool. Before I could accomplish this, I had to do some yard work including mowing, weeding, trimming, and some cleaning up outside before going in the garage to play...........



I have used many style fog/driving lamps in my day but the kind I like to use are not foglamps at all! They are actually side turn signal/marker lamps used on trailers found in any truck stop......................



I prefer these because they can be wired to your liking and last a very long time. They also provide just the right amount of light in poor visibilty such as a heavy snowstorm or thick fog if they are wired on the bright side and mounted low. I wanted these mounted behind the grille so they do not hinder my aero modifications I am performing on the vehicle.

I simply opened the hood and drilled a few 1/4" holes in the fiberglass framing behind the bumper. I then mounted the lamps and brackets and plugged in the 3 prong pigtails which are sold seperately. I ran both the white wires directly to ground and used the red wires (bright side of lamp) for illumination by splicing right into the parking lamp circuit. You could also wire these to a dash switch if desired. I tied off the brown wires since they will not be used on this application until I later decide to wire the "bright side" to run with parking lamps and the "dim side" to run with headlamps.



I also used a 15 amp inline fuse for safety and made sure all the wires were secured. here is how the car looks with the new lamps mounted behind the grill.......................



Trailer lamps/mounts = $0.00
3 prong pigtail connectors = $3.00
Inline fuse = $3.00
Bolts, butt connectors, etc = $1.00

Total cost = $7.00
Total labor time = 2 hours

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

I wanted these mounted behind the grille so they do not hinder my aero modifications I am performing on the vehicle.

Does that include a partial grille block? Mine has been covered for long enough that I had forgotten just how big the gaping maw is on the '95-01 bumpers. It's nuts how many openings there are considering the size of the radiator and the cooling needs of the 3-can.

[Tango Charlie]

Those 'fog lights' look SWEEEET!

Hey,maybe you could move the license plate lower and use it as part of a grill block/air dam?

[Johnny Mullet]

I am needing some advise or maybe some experience on my grill block project. I am going to be using that thick, plastic mudflap material for the build, but unsure on how to approach this. Attaching the material is not a problem, but where to use it for the best fuel economy and proper cooling is.

There is already a 3/4" gap between the bumper and hood that I will leave alone and where I have those lamps mounted pretty much blocks those sections off (left side of my brain just said "Fill 'em all with lights!" haha.) The upper sections on each side of the lights seem to go nowhere for any cooling purposes at all and probably cause a lot of drag. So if there is enough airflow from the gap under the hood, I could do a full grill block similar to this...............



I was also thinking of just blocking off those side pieces that go nowhere for a partial block similar to this image................



Another idea was simply blocking off the lower portion of the grill, but extending it lower for an air dam effect also like in this image............



I am in no hurry to do this mod, but plan on having it done by winter. The Metro is already getting an astounding 62 MPG in it's current state with the mods and repairs I have already done documented in this thread. I want it to look good and this black plastic mudflap material will match my bumper material in color almost.

I would also like to incorporate moving the front license plate into the mod by relocating it or making it flush with the bumper or grille area.

Your thoughts and ideas are welcome! I need your help to make this a very professional looking modification and hopefully achieve even better fuel economy.

Thanks.

[MetroMPG]

On my car, aside from the same gap between the bumper and hood (which I plan to seal this summer), the only opening is directly ahead of the radiator: the upper and lower "slots" to the left of the licence plate. It's approximately 6x6 inches, and I've had absolutely no problems with the cooling fan coming on more than normal.

[Johnny Mullet]

I am thinking of maybe experimenting with duct tape and find out which would give me the best results.

[Tango Charlie]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

What type of material did you use on the front bumper of blackfly, Metro?

[akcapeco]

I'd like to do this mod also... but I'd like it to look almost imperceptible... even a clear piece of thin plexiglass would do the job.

[Johnny Mullet]

Well, my mirror cover for my right side mirror delete has flown off while heading to Yankee Lake Truck Night and when I got home, I decided to make it permanent. I made another cutout of the original cover posted on page #2 of this thread and decided to screw it to the body instead of using silicone.

I pre-drilled two holes in the metal support behind the mirror mount..........



I then used 2 black sheet metal screws to attach the plate firmly in place.......



I was going to use silicone on the cover to seal up any gaps, but after installing the cover, it looked good enough for me...........



Now I no longer have to worry about losing my mirror delete cover since a replacement will never go in it's place.

[Frank Lee]

3 pages and all I see is a mirror delete and some lights.

What did I miss?

[Johnny Mullet]

3 pages and all I see is a mirror delete and some lights.

What did I miss?

This little car is driven over 100 miles per day and all repairs/mods are being done as the car is being used and as time and weather allows. Read the date on the first post and you will see I accomplished a lot in that time since starting the thread. You would know that if you read the freakin' posts to begin with..............

Engine rebuild (fuel economy related issue)
Timing advance
Complete tuneup
Air intake mod
DRL disable
Hyper-inflated tires
Antenna relocation
Transmission swap (fuel economy issue and required repair)
Mirror delete
And now a new vacuum gauge posted below. This car is pushing 65 MPG right now with simple mods and more extreme mods like the grill block and fender skirts will be posted as those come into play. Just refrain from posting if you want to be as stupid looking as your avatar Frank Lee. I am sure other people may benefit from what I have done and will do in the future. If you don't like it then too bad.

Anyway, back on topic.................

I used to have one of those really nostalgic vacuum gauges that read "Power" and "Economy", but the needle broke off and I had a hell of a time locating a replacement. The new gauge is a "Vacuum/Boost" gauge made by Sunpro, but the only scale I can use on a non-turbo vehicle will be the vacuum side of the gauge.

The new gauge required me to do a complete installation, so I decided to share it with you. The first thing I had to do is find a proper mounting location and on my car, the spot on the column was perfect for a 2" gauge. I simply used self tapping screws and secured the mount to the top half of the column cover...............



I then placed the gauge in the proper location and ran the vacuum tubing and electrical wires for the gauge illumination behind the cluster cover so nothing is exposed.



I simply removed the heater control cover plate and unplugged the bulb and spliced the illumination wires right into the harness so the gauge lights up when the cluster lights up.............



The mounting and illumination is now complete. The last thing to do is to run the vacuum hose provided with the gauge through the firewall to find a vacuum source. I ran a long screwdriver through the main wiring harness boot and fed the tubing through the gap made by the screwdriver.



I then adapted the connector to a vacuum source to monitor my fuel economy.



Here it is all installed...............



Sunpro vacuum gauge = $23.00
Total labor time = 2 hours

[Frank Lee]

And here I thought those were repairs.

[akcapeco]

Mullet, great work... Ignore the troll.

I love watching the transformation of your Metro... especially the part where it went from ugly duckling to... er... hot.

My Metro is pretty far toward the good looking end of the spectrum... I wish there were more. I don't like being perceived with the bulk of Metro's that look like they survived a demolition derby.

[Johnny Mullet]

That's true! Mine had several dents in the body, but I took the time to get them all straightened out because the paint looked so good. I was impressed with how well it cleaned up. There are very few Metros in my area and there are none that look as good as this one! I got many plans for this car and intend on posting them here as I go along. I don't have to share what I have learned and experienced with others on the internet, but I like to.

Don't worry, I wont feed the Trolls anymore............

They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

[Frank Lee]

Troll? LOL

With 2000 views I thought "this guy must be modding the snot outta that thing"! It's a legit question.