Another car for MetroMPG: convertible 1991 Pontiac Firefly (Geo Metro)

[mcmancuso]

I accidentally read the kg side instead of the psi on a tire gauge and put about 40kg of air into one tire (about 80 lbs) with regular rubber valve stems without damaging anything. Once I realized what I did I quickly let the air out, so I don't know if that would have held up to long term use, but the old valve stems on the tire held 80 without blowing out just fine.

[MetroMPG]

Nice find. Are you planning to convert to Swift headlights & hood too?

I've got the parts, but not sure whether I've got the "buckets" that the lights go in (with the aiming adjustment screws).

[MetroMPG]

Oh: and I'm not sure about the final drive in the 5-speed sedans.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Christ

Good to know your *ahem* junk pile *cough* had some usable parts in it.

It was / is still a giant pile of junk. It'll take me a couple of weeks to throw most of it out through regular garbage collection.

[mcmancuso]

Yeah I'm planning on doing the hood and lights, I found a couple sets of lights with the adjusters, but they're commonly rusted stuck. I'm probably going to electrolytically derust the whole bucket part at once using my battery charger. the process works really well, hopefully it will un-stick the adjusters.

[bennelson]

$800 for a Metro in decent condition, and it's a convertible to boot?! Nice.

Here comes the Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon:

This car has Miami Vice era decals on the side.
Miami Vice featured Don Johnson.
Don Johnson and a group of investors bought the Tropica, and had the car on several episodes of NASH BRIDGES.
The

Tropica

was an electric roadster (no top at all) designed by Bob Beaumont, the creator of the Citicar.
I have a Citicar, several other people here have Citicars.

Where was I going with all this?
oh, yeah, convert it to electric and take it up against a Tesla!

[MetroMPG]

Ben: thanks for the laugh.

No immediate plans for electric conversion... despite having thought about it more than a little bit.

One reason: the ForkenSwift's other nickname is "the electric umbrella". I tend to use the electric car most when the weather is worst. Not in convertible weather! Otherwise, I'm on my bicycle for local transportation, or in the Blackfly for highway trips.

So an electric convertible doesn't really fit into my transportation mix.

This will just be a toy. I'll definitely be modding it for increased efficiency, but really probably won't use it very much at all.

[Christ]

What about building it up semi-nice, and topping it out for MPG, then selling auction style?

I mean, unless you really really want a 'vert, I could see making a few bucks off it, if not for anything else than to donate some of the proceeds to some worthy cause.

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by mcmancuso

but there was definitely one there with a 5 speed tranny in a sedan. what's the gear ratio in those?

What year? I don't know too much about the sedans. 1989-1994 might be the 3.52. 1995-2001 will be the 3.79.

You can pull off the triangular metal plate and count the teeth on the ring gear. A long pencil works OK to mark a tooth. I believe these numbers are correct.
79:18 = 4.389 (1995+ & Convertible 993cc)
78:19 = 4.105 (GT/GTi & 1989-1994 993cc)
72:19 = 3.789 (1995+ 1298cc & XFi)
74:21 = 3.524 (pre-1995 SOHC 1298cc)

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Christ

What about building it up semi-nice, and topping it out for MPG, then selling auction style?

I want my toy! Won't get much use, but I still want it. The only reason I didn't buy it the last time it was for sale (15 years ago) was I didn't have the $$$.

gasolinefumes - thanks for posting that. I'm keeping my eye out for a 3.52 for the vert.