1998 Rolled Metro MPG+ Search
 

As a little back story, I picked up this 1998 Metro 5 speed 3 cylinder in Superior, Wisconsin, for 300. Put in rear wheel bearings, drums, shoes, hardware, and axle nuts. Changed plugs (NGK G Power Platinum), wires (house brand O'Reilly OMNISpark), cap, rotor. Oil changes to conventional house brand 5W-30 with housebrand filter, to housebrand 10W-30 synthetic (Valvoline blend) with housebrand filter. Changed out manual transmission gear oil conventional 80W-90, air filter, fuel pressure regulator, coolant temperature sensor, and added coolant fan switch (since coolant fan was not working), thermostat, coolant refill and flush (no cleaning though), timing belt and tensioner.

Check front brakes, no huge amount of abnormal wear. Fuel filter cannot be changed as it is integral to the fuel pump/fuel sending unit inside of the tank/not even put on at factory.

Vehicle appears to have been rolled in an accident; doors leak, doors, roof, fenders, hood are severely dented. Trim is missing, passenger mirror is missing.

Control arm mounts are rusted badly, but not badly enough to warrant a new shell. New welding will be done soon. Driver side floor pan has hole. Rear driver wheel well has hole. No rear interior, no carpeting. Speakers, well, suck.

Given that the shell is in, well, complete disrepair, I'll be focusing solely on engine, transmission, weight, exhaust, tuning, and slight modification to outside of the vehicle. It is apparent that the body of the car will not make receive any rewards for "Most Aerodynamic" on the salt flats, but it just might make a good DD upwards of 60 MPG normal driving. But things need to be fixed first.

Engine:
Connecting Rod Bearings: Knocking will be replaced soon.
Burned Exhaust Valve: Cylinder 3. Will be replacing within a year with 3 Tech SS Exhaust Valves which should increase fuel mileage significantly. As a side note, the catalytic may need to get replaced as well given the longevity of running with a burned exhaust valve dumping fuel into the the exhaust system. Cats don't like gas.
Camshaft: Replaced with 3 Tech Camshaft; unbeknownst as to Eco/Perf grind as future plans.
Cylinder Head: 3/5 angle valve job: Larger exhaust ports, smoothed intake ports.
Exhaust: Header, port matched/smoothed downpipe
Transmission: Full Synthetic Gear Oil as recommended
Ignition: Currently using platinum NGK BPR6EGP spark plugs, will be eventually switching to NGK Iridium at a specified spark plug gap that depends on AFR, timing, and heat ranges. Distributor, cap, and rotor will remain relatively the same. Spark plug wires, coil lead wire, will be upgraded to 8/8.8MM MSD/ACCEL wires. Coil will be upgraded as well with aftermarket ACCEL or MSD.
Fuel: Fuel will be adjusted accordingly as per WBO2 sensor, WBO2 gauge, via a piggy back system. 14.7:1 is perfect, 16.:1 is ideal for lean burn.

Welcome CaffeineTripp! Sounds like you've got quite a project on your hands, there! I learned from my own car last winter just how bad you can get hurt by burnt exhaust valve(s). My first tank was in the 20's and it wouldn't even idle at a stoplight. But after replacing the engine, the mpg kept climbing until mileage in the 60's was almost expected.

That brings me to my second point; I originally tried to get by with just a valve job, but after an oil failure that cost the newly rebuilt head, ended up putting a whole (almost) new engine in it with only 7000 miles. So, before you commit to rebuilding the one you've got, it may be worth your while to check around a little & see if you can find a low miles used engine. That option ended up working very well for me.

Geo Metro for the win!

Welcome to the forum!

As much as I would love to find a lower mileage engine for relatively cheap, 200 or so with or without the transmission, it's just not feasible in my location. The next closest large city is two hours away. I've found two different engines within an hour from my location, but both have 150,000+ on them and are in unknown condition and asking 400 on top of that! Bit ridiculous.

Doesn't mean I won't hold out though.

So far, the fixes to the Metro are getting done, but slowly. Just bought an oil pan as the one on there is bent and slightly crushed on the front. The leak is next to the flywheel, which the flywheel slings the oil onto the catalytic converter sending plumes of smoke out the back side. New oil pan will definitely fix that. Got to find an inspection plate to put on there to keep the flywheel covered from debris.

After the oil pan gets fixed, I'll be purchasing exhaust valves and intake valves from 3Tech over on TeamSwift, saving up for all the gaskets, piston rings, Eco/Perf cam grind, and send the/a head off to get the machine work done.

You are just down the road from me. PM me if you are ever in the Ashland area and want to talk mods and mileage.

Not that far away at all. Hour and a half or so?

Yep.

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