Mullet's Metro Project

[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.