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Old 12-20-2010, 03:16 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New Port Richey, Florida
Posts: 167

Super-Metro! - '92 Geo Metro Base

$250 Pizza Delivery Car - '91 Geo Metro Base
Team Metro
90 day: 43.75 mpg (US)

Fronty the wonder truck - '98 Nissan Frontier XE
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My Latest Find: $250 Geo Metro

I am in the process of building a Metro as a pizza delivery vehicle. Sadly though, the one I have is an automatic. Thus, I was shopping around for a 5 speed parts car. Lo and behold, I found a 3 cylinder 5 speed 4 door today for $250. It both runs and drives and is not in bad overall condition. It has an oil leak, something wasted in the front suspension, and a few other minor issues but is rust free and drives fine. Supposedly the A/C works but the owner took the belt off because it wouldn't run right when it kicked on ( A/C is important when delivering in the summer in Florida). I plan to fix it's issues and get it on the road in the next couple of days. Hopefully, 40+ city mpg is no longer a distant dream and I can now start saving money by the end of the week.


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(Note: the car sees 100% city driving and is EPA rated at 37 mpg city)
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Old 12-20-2010, 03:43 AM   #2 (permalink)
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The Toylet - '87 Toyota Supra 350 Chevy V8 / 700R4

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90 day: 60.9 mpg (US)

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Great find. Should have no problem keeping costs under $500. They're pretty easy to work on, you could do most of the work yourself. Guess I can understand wanting A/C since you live in Florida. The heat and humidity can be brutal in the summer. So, you have 2 Metro's now? Don't make 1 a parts car, turn them both into drivers!
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Old 12-20-2010, 09:33 AM   #3 (permalink)
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New Port Richey, Florida
Posts: 167

Super-Metro! - '92 Geo Metro Base

$250 Pizza Delivery Car - '91 Geo Metro Base
Team Metro
90 day: 43.75 mpg (US)

Fronty the wonder truck - '98 Nissan Frontier XE
Thanks: 7
Thanked 19 Times in 12 Posts
Both cars will live again, don't worry! I just haven't decided the exact configuration of how that will happen. I had already sent the head of the automatic car out to a specialist ( 3 Tech performance) for their fuel economy rebuild and reground camshaft so that engine is getting rebuilt. That engine will be paired with the manual transmission but I do not know which car will get it yet. I will be running a compression test on the engine in the 4 door car when I get it home today to see if it is any good. If it is, it will go into the 2 door car with the automatic and the new engine will go in to the 4 door. If it is bad, I have a buyer for the 4 door's shell and I will carefully take what I need from it before sending it on to a new owner who wants to use it's body for his own project. It's a rust free Metro with minimal body damage after all, and those are hard to come by nowadays. I'd much rather see it go to a good home than as shredded scrap to make more junk products in China.

My hope is for a city cycle fuel economy of 50 mpg when used for pizza delivery. It would represent a 60% reduction in fuel costs over the Frontier I currently use, or a savings of $150-200 a month depending on the price of gas. I will also be VERY happy to have A/C this summer. I didn't last year and it damn near killed me from heat exhaustion.
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No green technology will ever make a substantive environmental impact until it is economically viable for most people to use it. This must be from a reduction in net cost of the new technology, not an increase in the cost of the old technology through taxation



(Note: the car sees 100% city driving and is EPA rated at 37 mpg city)
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Old 12-20-2010, 09:43 AM   #4 (permalink)
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If the A/C doesn't get fixed, look at the bright side...your pizza's will be warmer when delivered so a better tip or compliments on a great job. Which to me = a pay raise...maybe. Good luck!
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Old 12-20-2010, 10:13 AM   #5 (permalink)
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Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
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Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

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90 day: 52.71 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

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FYI, 50 MPG city is a tall order. You'd have to employ some pretty advanced driving techniques to achieve it.
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Old 12-20-2010, 12:02 PM   #6 (permalink)
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Location: Crescent City, CA
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The Toylet - '87 Toyota Supra 350 Chevy V8 / 700R4

In-Durrrr-Oh - '09 TMEC Enduro TMEC 200cc Enduro
90 day: 60.9 mpg (US)

Tem-poo - '86 Ford Tempo GL 4 Door 2.0 Liter Diesel 5 Speed
90 day: 47.52 mpg (US)

Ass Tick - '01 Pontiac Pontiac Aztek GT 5 Door

Green Baby Poop Stain - '01 Pontiac Aztek Aztek Base Model

Black Track - '01 Pontiac Aztek GT
Thanks: 14
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Get some beaded seats and install a simple fan to blow on you (like a UPS / Fed EX delivery truck). No significant weight gain and you'd solve some of your heat issues without running A/C. If you're doing a lot of stop and go driving, mpg will obviously drop. More gas is being used to propel the vehicle forward from a stop. Uses less when driving at a reasonably consistant speed. Also, pizza delivery? Watch the idle time!
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Old 12-20-2010, 12:25 PM   #7 (permalink)
Junkyard Engineer
 
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New Port Richey, Florida
Posts: 167

Super-Metro! - '92 Geo Metro Base

$250 Pizza Delivery Car - '91 Geo Metro Base
Team Metro
90 day: 43.75 mpg (US)

Fronty the wonder truck - '98 Nissan Frontier XE
Thanks: 7
Thanked 19 Times in 12 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
FYI, 50 MPG city is a tall order. You'd have to employ some pretty advanced driving techniques to achieve it.
I agree-which is why it's a bit of a challenge! I will be happy with anything north of 40 city, but 50 is just so tantalizing I gotta try to achieve it. I plan on an engine kill switch on the shifter for coasting when it is beneficial and adding a MPGuino to try and figure out the best driving techniques. My focus will remain on maximizing total deliveries as one good delivery will offset the fuel cost savings from losing it. It's a fine line but I love a challenge. If I manage to get out of the delivery game like I want to I will probably reconfigure the car to skew it more towards highway use. I have a lot of ideas right now, but likely will not get to use them all at once. I am going to pick it up right now and hope to have some baseline numbers by this time next week. I gotta fix whatever safety and maintenance issues I find first though as there is no sense driving it in a manner that will damage the car or get me hurt. At any rate, where is the best place on this site to do a build thread? I don't know if they are all aggregated in one spot here and want to put it in the right place.
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No green technology will ever make a substantive environmental impact until it is economically viable for most people to use it. This must be from a reduction in net cost of the new technology, not an increase in the cost of the old technology through taxation



(Note: the car sees 100% city driving and is EPA rated at 37 mpg city)
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Old 12-20-2010, 12:28 PM   #8 (permalink)
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,513

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 52.71 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 60.16 mpg (US)
Thanks: 4,058
Thanked 6,957 Times in 3,602 Posts
OK, having read your reply, I predict you'll get pretty close to or beat your goal

You can start a build thread in "ecomodding central": EcoModding Central - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com

__________________
Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



EcoModder
has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
www.ForkenSwift.com - electric car conversion on a beer budget
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