Another Metro to get taller final drive & XFi cam

[Frederick]

Well metrompg........
This monday the 21 st of January in the year 2008, Espresso Nero will go where you treaded and paved the way. She is already gathering warmth in a garage.

I bought a new FXi cam and the final gears from a 4 banger. These will replace what she was born with in Oshawa in 1994.

As my car is lighter than yours by about 200 pounds, I expect to be up there in the 80 miles to the gallon on the highway. My goal is 3,5 liters for 100 km.
Some go for power, others for speed,
and some are looking for the best way to pop an eardrum.
The search for perfect weight hanging from the doors along with backlights that titillates the taste buds is a costly hobby also.
Then there is us, the nerds of the automobile colony, the ones who aren't afraid to glue coroplast in their wheelwells, the ones who use racing discs not to race. The ones who discard rear seats because, lets face it: nobody uses them.
The world is watching....
I salute you.....

[Frederick]

Well, it's done ! Yep ! Done I tell you.

I bought just the two final gears from a 4 cylinder to install on Espresso Nero Ã* la metrompg.

I know that my tranny is in more than perfect condition and didn't want to take a chance with a second hand one.
All went well for the swap EXCEPT the ring gear is a little thicker on the 4 cyl. So I had to machine 94 thousandth of an inch.
I used a slow speed on a lathe and discovered that a ceramic insert is the best to cut off the heat treated material. Particularly at the edge, where the "teeth" are.
After installation of the completed tranny, I took Espresso Nero for a spin around my small city. Unfortunately, the asphalt in the rear country roads have a half covering of ice so I couldn't get up to 100 Km as I wanted to. nevertheless, 1-2-3 have NOT changed noticebly and have good guts for get up and go. At 55 miles an hour (80 km) read out exactly 2000 RPM.

Very happy indeed. Friday morning the XFi cam goes in. I'll keep you posted.

[MetroMPG]

Congrats on diving in, Frederick.

Hope you don't mind me splitting this off from the other thread: Blackfly XFi? Cam swap! Update: swap completed

Your transmission/camshaft project is threadworthy on its own.

I'm surprised you didn't notice a difference in 1st gear. The F.D. in the Flea is high enough now that it takes noticeably more clutch slip to get going smoothly from a stop. It's not a big deal on the flat, but it's particularly evident on hills.

Here's a question: is there any size difference between the wheels/tires that the final drive came from vs. the wheels/tires on your car? My speed/odometer is off now because the 4-cyl transmission was calibrated differently due to different tire sizes. It's off by almost 6% - in the direction that further lowers the effective final gearing, numerically.

Looking forward to your next update!

[Frederick]

Actually, this was also a point of concern and I took a picture of the nylon gear that drives the spedometer.
Taller tires will "cause" the speedo to read slow. There is nothing that you can do about it. This is happening in my vert with 15 inchers.
The driven nylon gear is part of the diff and I really don't think that you could get a seperate one. Though I have seen the smaller part, the one that is driven, in a different color, mine is cream.
This nylon gear combo that drives the speedo are the same in my vert, that came with 13 inch tires originally and Espresso Nero with 12 inch ones. Espresso has the verts tires now but I bought them with respect to the original size with the 12 inches.
The final drive gears do come from a SOHC model with 13 inch tires originally. If I hit 100km at exactly 2500, I'll know that the speedo is correct.
With Vanilla Latte, I read 2600 at 100km, BUT the KM should be 7% more. So it's accurate also.

As for slip, you may be right, I did not have a chance to put Espresso through it's paces correctly yet, just a quick drive on icy roads. Although when I backed up to park it on a slight incline, it did shudder some....like usual.
See you friday ! That's when the XFi cam goes in. My goal: 3,1 liters to the hundred driving at a comfortable pace.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Frederick

The final drive gears do come from a SOHC model with 13 inch tires originally. If I hit 100km at exactly 2500, I'll know that the speedo is correct.

I'm sure you already know that the 1.3 cars came with 13 inch rims, but used lower profile tires than the standard Metro 13 inchers.

My goal: 3,1 liters to the hundred driving at a comfortable pace.

You have seen my car's speed vs. MPG chart, yes?

source: http://metrompg.com/posts/tranny-swap.htm

I can cruise at 3.1 L/100 km (76 mpg) in summer weather, on a level road @ about 70 km/h.

[Frederick]

I can surely live with that ! According to this handy-dandy converter: http://www.tdiclub.com/misc/conversions.html
This will translate into 91 miles to the imperial gallon !
The Smart is a gazguzzling wastaholic ( this is mine....can't use it) compared to this!
This means that as I live some 50 miles from Montreal (Quebec, La Belle Province...we have snow here),it will cost me 50¢ to go there or so at today's prices for gas.
A penny a mile........gosh and gee whiz.......in gasoline cost....this I have to experience.
On top of that Espresso Nero is lighter than the Blackfly (will these two end up in a museum?) and my father can throw a ball further than your father, and my sis is.........well she does things, I guess your sis is better.

[Frederick]

Hi there Peoploids!
Spring finally came to my neck of the woods and the carion eating cute crows are chirping their little heads off. How adorable !
I have been driving my modified Espresso Nero (Soul of black), for 2,5 months now and adore it's demeneour on the road. City or highway. Besides the final drive gear from a 4 cyl. she boasts (sports ?) an XFi cam. For good breathing, I treated her to a K&N filter. When installing the summer 13 inch tires (165-65-13) I also screwed on the Racing Bonneville Salt Flats Smooth Hubcaps (RBSFSH for short) with 3 stainless steel screws. I used a few biblical terms in doing that. So I guess that they are blessed for the road now. I also swapped the square glass headlights for the smooth aerodynamic ones. Inside she had the same very light seating arrangement as an original XFi but comfort in the form of plaid GT seats won over. Last item: a rear deflector, not a spoiler, washes wind down the rear window and keeps it spotless. I found it on the exotic car emporium section of Heehawbay. 10 bucks.
In summary: excellent pick up and go, no pinging whatsoever, I tend to use 4th gear more and sometimes forget about shifting into 5th. Under 2000RPM is very relaxing. 5th is now a true overdrive and acts like one. This means downshifting to 4 when passing.
Fuel economy is phenomenal almost 60 miles to the gallon most of the time.
Last week the gas tanks for the regual gas were deffective and the friendly owner accomodated his customers by letting them tank up with super for the same price. First time Espresso Nero drinks this stuff.
The gauge's needle is still stuck on full and the odometer reads 185 kill-o-meters. I'll tell you how it goes if I ever do another fill-up.
Toodle-dee-doo-cracker-bits.

[MetroMPG]

Hi Frederick - thanks for the update (and the chuckle... your writing style is colourful as usual). Good to hear the mods were successful.

About that rear deflector: if it's the style that sits somewhat above the height of the roof line and scoops the air down to wash over the rear window, it's likely adding drag. eg:

Just FYI.

[Katmandu]

What is the Lift/Duration (@.050" - Not Advertised #) for the XFi Camshaft ?

[Frederick]

Yes.......what a drag! So be it. When I bought Espresso Nero, I went by choo-choo- to Newcastle Ontario. Came back with a small greasy type of rainfall on the 401 (trucks don't want us there). Oh no said I, not again. I did in a past life have a Toyota Starlet with the same aerodynamic lack. Some Renault deflectors soon fixed this problem. The best self cleaning rear window on a car that I was possessed with: Austin America. 10 feet: CLEAN!
Second best: Mercedes-Benz 300 CD, the turbo diesel 2 door coupe. Scarce and ought to be. 20 feet of driving and you could see the rivulets escape.
Installing a rear window from a MBenz on Espresso Nero was not an option as you might guess.
Since that happy day when I discovered the sweet perfume of super being fed to Espresso, that's all she drinks. I get phenomenal fuel economy and my tail pipe (the car's....not mine....) is like new. Vanilla Latte, with her "new" turbo swap get's the same formula.... 99% super and 1% love. She costs a little more to run but there is no ATM at the cemetary....not yet.
Toodle-dee-doo-cracker-bits.