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Originally Posted by fairdinkumfrankies
Sounds like the air dam and some under body smoothing war within my abilities. Trannies and cams are beyond my range. We have no where to do such work and I can run up a bill larger than what I paid for this rig. I like the sound of all of it
The skinny tires on 15" rims was my thought of reducing the drag whilst trolling the highway. My commute will be 55% highway, 30% secondaries, and 15% stop and go.
Thanks for the input. I will be looking over the air dam information and shooting to do something in Feb. I will have a month of learning the new car and its quirks. Right night the shifter seems a bit stiff and slow to move into the gears. I don't know what would cause that. My old Prizm had a light shifter and was a joy to row. Not so with this one.
Neal
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Consider changing the transmission oil. The consensus seems to be that Penzoil Synchromesh is the best oil to use in these transmissions. It is thinner than stock, but it seems to make them shift better if the transmission is not too far gone from someone driving it like it was a 5.0 Mustang.
I will also say that since you just acquired the car you really need to give it a thorough going over. Make sure everything is working properly. Do a compression test. Check the engine mounts. Check the suspension and steering joints. Check for oil leaks. Check all of the brake and fuel hoses. Check the shifter bushings. Most importantly though, check the part of the unibody that the front lower control arms bolt to. This is a place where dangerous structural rust can occur in rust belt cars and could cause the wheels to separate from the car if it goes too far. I own 2 Metros and this was one of the first things I checked when I went to buy them. How did I check it? I just poked at them with a screwdriver to make sure it didn't go through. Now, it can be fixed if it is bad but it does take welding and is a PITA. Just remember that most Metros and other small commuter cars that are 10+ years old have seen a hard life with minimal care and maintenance. If you can do this work yourself though you do stand to reap substantial rewards in terms of efficiency and low cost transportation.
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(Note: the car sees 100% city driving and is EPA rated at 37 mpg city)