Time to get underneath the electric blue beastie and see what damage the winter salt has done. (I think I said the same thing last year and never got around to it.)
But I'm certain there's some underbody welding in the ForkenSwift's future.
I'm concerned about the usual achilles heel of these cars: weakness in the mounting area of the front control arms.
So just now for comparison sake I measured up the 3 Suzukiclones in my posession. Checked the distance between the center of the forwardmost bolt/stud (the bolt/stud at the bottom of this picture, beside the welder ground clamp) holding the control arms, and they were all within 1/4 inch of one another.
For posterity/future reference:
- 27.125" - 1998 Firefly hatch (Blackfly)
- 27.000" - 1991 Firefly convertible
- 27.250" - 1992 Metro (ForkenSwift)
Not laser accurate measurement either, so I'd call these within specs, more or less.
(And I confirmed in my 1998 service manual, the 2 key dimensions in the front frame are the same as the previous generation car.)