picked up the $75 red swift today. driving it back to the house was an experience. because of the badly rusted/welded right front control arm mount, that wheel is angled out about 10 degrees when the left wheel is pointing straight ahead. can you say "unstable"?
so out in the country, i drove with the right wheel on the dirt shoulder where it had less traction. when i got into town, i kept it over to the right side of the lane so that tire tracked in the gravel by the curb. that made steering easier. when i had to have both tires on dry pavement, they actually squealed as i drove along (30 mph). probably not good for mileage
so, we'll have a look to see if the floor/suspension is repairable, but i kind of doubt it. it appears it has already been patched up once. and now the patches are rusting off.
if we can't fix it, this car will serve as a parts source. and we can use its tranny to make the adapter plate for the car we ultimately end up using as the host. this tranny fits all metros 89 - 01.
i can hopefully sell the engine (seems to run & drive strong, though it prob hasn't had a tune-up in years). plus it's got an OEM remote alarm/immobilizer system. may be able to sell that too.