Full boat tail on a Matrix

[Weather Spotter]

I have been P&G for the last 2 years and found it bumps MPG up greatly but it is a primary suspect in the transmission issues, I wont know till they attempt a rebuild (if doable). Finding used tras seems hard for the shop, said they ran $700 or more for a used one. I need a second quote on that though..... but a rebuild seems likely to be cheaper & better.

[2000mc]

Originally Posted by Weather Spotter

Then there is the family pressure to improve my "image if i want to get a wife....." Since I am people skills lacking...... I tend to trust them in that area.... Since the "recommendation" is made weekly and i can see some rational in their position.... I am thinking of falling off the car with boat tail list

I have done it to keep to fairly stealth mods, but even a spoiler delete got the wife's attention along with a few disapproving comments
Unfortunately the average person you meet, also has average opinions on what cars should look like. You could find someone with the same interests, and she'll want to rebuild that boat tail, my wife and I have some different likes, and different strengths, that make us a better team together

[freebeard]

I came here straight from the front page, so I'll just say: Fix it and make a new boattail. Do it like this:


Just the back doors. Step up your game on materials, fit and finish (no slight of the current effort intended). I'd use Polymetal rolled in simple curves with curved edges, and braked flanges.

You'll have wives coming out of your ears.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Weather Spotter

time for an update....

things have been busy with house so car has been a daily driver and not worked on much. still getting 55-60 mpg mixed commute. The tail is starting to show its age, after 3.5 years it is getting close to time to take it off. Two rear end impacts have made both lower corners in need of repair (mostly fiber glassing, structure is ok) the sides have several spots where cargo has made holes in the side that have only been semi repaired. Where I made room for the exhaust has burned/ rusted out and I made a repair but an occasional smell tells me its not 100% sealed up.... In addition to that, where the tail connects at the top has always been a leak prone area and i am out of ideas on fixing it without taking it off and redesigning the interface. If I take it off likely i will not rebuild it as I need a trailer option or a truck at times and $$$ say having a hitch is the cheapest option. I figure the tail saves me $150-$200 a year but a second car's insurance is more then that a year.... not counting anything else.

Then there is the family pressure to improve my "image if i want to get a wife....." Since I am people skills lacking...... I tend to trust them in that area.... Since the "recommendation" is made weekly and i can see some rational in their position.... I am thinking of falling off the car with boat tail list

I may take the car most of the way back to stock.... in looks department..... but a few things can stay, smooth wheel covers belly pan...... KILL SWITCH

Not 100% sure yet as to my plan as the transmission stopped working this week so its in the shop with a likely $2-3000 bill to fix. This is making me think through the options as to getting rid of the car without fixing, parting it out, fixing and selling (Stock almost certainly required) or do i fix it and keep on using it as is, or do I fix it and cave to the rational of better looks and take it back to stock? I am also thinking of getting rid of this and getting a different car which opens a can of worms, Prius? leaf? old metro and mod it up?

Ideas from the wiser then me people of the cloud?

What shop are you going to that's going to charge you 2-3k for a manual tranny repair!??!?! I know several people here in Cali that live within 30 miles that do automatic tranny rebuilds for 800 with no warranty and 1200 with a warranty, -$200 if you drop the tranny yourself. A manual rebuild is only $400+ parts. I would most definitely get a second opinion and shop around a little to see if you can get under 2k to rebuild the tranny.

[roadwarrior_xrs]

Originally Posted by Weather Spotter

time for an update....

things have been busy with house so car has been a daily driver and not worked on much. still getting 55-60 mpg mixed commute. The tail is starting to show its age, after 3.5 years it is getting close to time to take it off. Two rear end impacts have made both lower corners in need of repair (mostly fiber glassing, structure is ok) the sides have several spots where cargo has made holes in the side that have only been semi repaired. Where I made room for the exhaust has burned/ rusted out and I made a repair but an occasional smell tells me its not 100% sealed up.... In addition to that, where the tail connects at the top has always been a leak prone area and i am out of ideas on fixing it without taking it off and redesigning the interface. If I take it off likely i will not rebuild it as I need a trailer option or a truck at times and $$$ say having a hitch is the cheapest option. I figure the tail saves me $150-$200 a year but a second car's insurance is more then that a year.... not counting anything else.

Then there is the family pressure to improve my "image if i want to get a wife....." Since I am people skills lacking...... I tend to trust them in that area.... Since the "recommendation" is made weekly and i can see some rational in their position.... I am thinking of falling off the car with boat tail list

Sorry to hear the peer/family pressure getting to you. As a fellow Matrix owner I've been a fan of yours for the last 3 years and am always impressed by what you've managed to do. I often show off your mod photos to my coworkers who have never heard of ecomodder and give them a glimpse of what is possible.

Regarding wives, someone you want to spend your life with will respect who you are and what you are interested in. That being said, first impressions do count. You could always borrow or rent a car if you need for a first date. Better to find out sooner than later if your future wife is going to run the other way when you start moding your car. Goodluck with your decisions, I hope this is not your last mod on the site.

[Weather Spotter]

Last mod?.??

I will always mod my cars, just not as visibly for a few years, I look at this as an opportunity to upgrade the base car that I will eventually mod

Any interest in some of the parts/ mods?

Right now I am leaning to sell this and get a used Prius. I figured it would get me about the same mpg as I currently get and get me a better looking car...... Down the road I might build a tail for it...

Looking for cars it goes:
mpg
Range
Cost
Hyper mile ability
Winter
Ability to mod
Color
Brand
.....

[ecomodded]

You will find your wife or get laid trying, if your mind is set on it

They say you should envision your wife with her qualities , so you will recognize her when you see her and introduce yourself tactfully , instead of passing her by.

If we don't know what were looking for how will we know it when we see it.

There has to be more then 2 legs and a smile to be watching for ..

[MetroMPG]

I'd like to know: what is the problem/diagnosis with the transmission?

I agree with others: $2-$3k makes zero sense for a manual transmission repair.

[COcyclist]

I think it really depends on the type of driving you do. If you do a lot of city-stop and go, get the Prius with the CVT. I do mostly highway and IMHO the small diesels with a manual transmission are superior for this type of driving. If you get a chance to drive a TDI I think you will be surprised at how powerful and fun to drive they are.

Looking for cars it goes: (my Golf TDI) for example
mpg- many TDIs on this site are getting 60s with mild hypermiling
Range- 800-900 mile tanks
Cost- lots of used ones out there. These engines reportedly can run to 300K miles. Diesel can cost 10 to 20 cents more than gasoline.
Hyper mile ability-Yes, especially the manual.
Winter- I have good snow tires but have pushed Colorado powder so deep it came up over the windshield and I had to turn on the wipers to see.
Ability to mod
Color- Indigo Blue Metallic
Brand

[Weather Spotter]

Not 100% sure on cause but what I got was that a bearing broke or something caused a shaft to fall out of spot and jam up two gears.

Its rebuilt but not installed before the weekend. $2300 and that's a new clutch and flywheel resurfacing as well ~$400 of that. Labor is the killer here at about $1000. From what it sounded like pulling the trans in my car is a pain.

As for other cars, I am looking at an elio when they come out in a year (planning on 2 till I get one) and that is making me lean to keeping this till then. I have a brother who sells cars and he can get me a test drive in most anything so I might try a Leaf, Volt, Prius, TDI (he has a TDI and gets 50-55 in mixed driving with minimal hypermileing) lots of options to think about. With a rebuilt trans I have a new lease on life and if it was not caused by p&g (lots of mixed thoughts from experts) I might still do it and make the best of it for now.