Greetings from a Metro Manumatic, and its owner!

[jman16]

Hello guys! For those of you who aren't on geometroforum.com where I've been posting for the last 4 months, I'm Jordan, a 19 year old who recently graduated from my local Automotive Technology school, and who sits on a fair few ASE certs. Unlike most of my classmates who owned BMWs, S10s, silverados, etc., I'm an engineer and I find more fun in making my cars efficient rather than heart-stoppingly fast (but that can be fun too.) I bought a Geo Metro in April, and here's what I've done to it so far:

-Changed the oil as soon as I got it, it was black
-Adjusted the throttle stop screw so it idles correctly
-Replaced the battery
-Replaced the timing belt
-Took out the crap air system and installed the stock one
-Changed out the valve cover for the updated design
-Unplugged the solenoids in the transmission to make
it an Automatic Manual; D is 3rd gear
-Replaced the trunk lifters and re-added the trunk latch
-Added SynLube oil & filter magnets
-Changed trans fluid for LubeGuard, and most of it
-Fixed turn signals by replacing fusebox

These things are all great, and don't get me wrong, I like a working car (which my 1991 LSi auto Vert was definitely not when I got it) but I've not really been able to move onto the "fun" stuff of making it get more MPG. It really matters now, too: unlike when I bought the car, I'm now attending a semester at a college 90 miles away from my home, which I go to on weekends, so right now I'm having to fill up a tank per week. geometroforum.com itself is great and needed for the baseline of making sure these old cars run right, but there's not been much MPG discussion as of late.

You can probably guess why I'm on this forum now. Many efficient things are to come!

Regards,
Jordan

[freebeard]

Welcome. Nice car.

The convertible presents an opportunity to make a lift-off bubble-top boat tail for lower Cd.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by jman16

Unplugged the solenoids in the transmission to make
it an Automatic Manual; D is 3rd gear

Reminds me of some drag-racing transmissions. BTW as it seems like you don't really have an objection to shift gears manually, have you never considered an actual manual transmission? If you have any problem with a clutch pedal, it's not impossible to convert only the clutch into an automatic clutch.

[jman16]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Reminds me of some drag-racing transmissions. BTW as it seems like you don't really have an objection to shift gears manually, have you never considered an actual manual transmission? If you have any problem with a clutch pedal, it's not impossible to convert only the clutch into an automatic clutch.

My second post after introducing myself on geometroforum.com was about this exactly. I can't post links yet because I only have 1 post, so go there if you want to see it. It's in Fuel Economy/Performance a bit of a ways down.

It's a debate for me to be sure. I absolutely want a manual, but as that forum thread told me, the conversion takes a parts car, and an absolute ton of time - probably more than just about any other single job I could do to it. Now that school is in session I have neither of these. In short, for this car, it's not worth it for me. I shouldn't have jumped on my car, either: it has no radio, wasn't well cared for, and had a bunch of electrical issues I knew about when I bought it.

The best option would probably be for me to trade mine in for someone who's willing to sell their manual Geo. It sucks because of the effort I've put into this car, but I'm sure if I do, that person will take good care of it.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Maybe someday... I guess getting rid of the convertible might not sound so easy, as it might be quite fun when weather is nice.

[freebeard]

I'd be less concerned about a transmission swap, than finding the optional luggage rack for the rear deck.


https://saleofcar.com/geo-metro-lsi/04294
Geo Metro LSI Convertible (1993) -- for sale -- Price: US $200.00

Here's what it might look like with a chopped top:


https://www.diyelectriccar.com/threa...ertible.41019/

Interesting how they used the door glass with the slanted windshield. Ingress/egress would dissuade me. Just two-toning the deck lid might be worth doing.