I have a 1992 Geo Metro, nothing modded other than my driving habits.
I want to do this mod first because I understand that it's probably the single thing (other than driving habits) that will improve mileage most with this type of car. I've read up a fair bit about it, and I there are a couple of things that I'm worrying/thinking about.
First, will the drop of 5 horsepower be something that's really going to suck when I go driving through the mountains? I do
this sort of trip once a year, usually. Having gone on this route with 5 people in the car was pretty rough at some parts, though I've heard that the xfi cam swap can actually help your lower get up and go, so I'm not even sure if that would hurt or help. (I would be in a positon where I was stuck at 80/90km/hr in 3rd gear and there was no way I was getting into 4th) As you may have guessed, I'm somewhat motivated to do this sooner rather than later by the immediate payoff I could get on a trip of this length. (Also - Canadian gas prices!)
I've heard that many people get their cams done by a machine shop in Tacoma, however, I know a fairly good machine shop locally, is this the sort of thing that a good machine shop would be able to do so long as I gave them the proper specifications and instructions? (And if that is the case, where would I find such instructions?)
I'm not intending on immediately changing the transmission - will that be a significant problem for me if I do this swap? As far as the mountains go, I find that 5th is pretty much useless anyway except on the smallest inclines, and from what I've heard it might be better for this sort of driving to have things working the way it does with the xfi.
Also, in terms of cost-benefit, what other mods (that are relatively not ninja-skill requiring) are a good idea? I was thinking of rear wheel covers and grill blocking for starters, (even if it were ghetto temporary cardboard) any other thoughts?
Thanks for reading!