Hello from Oregon, USA!

[Vardom]

Hey everyone,

I've stopped by a few times for some ideas (which I've yet to implement xD).

I drive a 1990 Geo Metro for commuting and a 2001 Ford Taurus for taking the fiance out.

Sadly, the Geo is now considered "totalled" because a 16 y/o rear-ended me at around 10mph. Didn't cause any major issues but it crumpled up the rear quarter panel which, to repair it at their shops was estimated at ~$3,200 to fix.

Anyways let's not rant on an intro! I'll be posting a thread shortly on what I'd like to do

I've seen a few Oregonians on around here so if you feel like saying hi or sending me a PM feel free to!

[Sporty Modder]

Hi, welcome to the site.
What kind of mpg's were you getting out of your metro before it got totaled?
What are your plans for it? Often times you can buy the car from the insurance company and fix it your self or just drive it. Sounds like a perfect opritunity to do some aero mods.

[Vardom]

Oh, I've already purchased it from them.. The funny thing was that they stated they were going to give me 1,646 for it, and I decided to keep it and they told me they would keep the auction price... I ended up with not only 1646, but another 600 on top of that ($1,646 after paying off the rest of the loan of $1,000).

Sadly, I was "hot rodding" it. Haha hot rodding in a geo xD. Anyways, I was running it hard and getting 30-42 MPG.

I just did refueled earlier today and it came out to ~38 MPG.

I want to do a few things with it before I start messing around with driving techniques though.

I want to:

-"Fix" the crater that is also known as a rear quarter panel (passenger side)

-Get a new exhaust (Muffler fell off a while back, I haven't bothered to replace it since I garaged the geo once I got my Taurus.)

-I will probably need to do an engine rebuild soon. It has ~305k miles on it and I was told a while back (when fixing my uncles mistake of dropping a nut down the air filter and not bothering to tell me!) that the 2nd piston has low compression. I really need to take a look at what it takes to rebuild an engine and also any mods I can do to it at the same time to get them done in one fell swoop. I am a "backyard" mechanic so I do all of the labor myself.

... Well let's just say it's my project car, that runs AND gets ~35-40mpg for now. Not too many project cars get that :P

[gone-ot]

"Welcome aboard."

[Sporty Modder]

Ahh, with just some simple driving techniques, it is pretty easy to get 20% over epa rating.
A local muffler shop will offen weld up a muffler for a pretty reasonable rate, mine charges $45. Sounds like the geo will be down for a while, some of the best advice I recieved was to adjustthe nut behind the wheel. I have also had sucess with moumting a airdam on the front of the car(or under) 5-15%+ , bump up the tire pressure to 40+ lbs and slow down(adjust the nut behind the wheel).

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Vardom

Sadly, the Geo is now considered "totalled" because a 16 y/o rear-ended me at around 10mph. Didn't cause any major issues but it crumpled up the rear quarter panel which, to repair it at their shops was estimated at ~$3,200 to fix.

Just wrap some fabric around a hammer, repair the panel, paint it with spray and call it a day.

[Vardom]

It currently runs but I need to replace the muffler (sadly, it somehow managed to just plain fall off and I was not able to find it anywhere). The muffler is rubbing against the suspension, which also needs to be replaced but I'm not terribly worried about that.

As for the nut behind the wheel, I have definitely changed that one already :P. I have attempted to use the pulse and glide method but it is somewhat inefficient for me atm. The previous owner put 14" tires on it and a "performance" cam shaft into it. I'm also contemplating taking out the passenger seat as well as the back seat since I am using this as a commuter to work.

Anyways, taking the fiance out to the casino for her birthday present Take care all and I'll get back to you later!

[MetroMPG]

Welcome to the forum, fellow Geo driver.

305k before a rebuild is impressive!

What's your commute like? Distance/speeds/urban/rural/hilly/highway?

First bit of advice: get instrumentation. You want to be able to know your fuel economy on each leg of your commute - it will make it a fun challenge, and is critical for adjusting the nut behind the wheel.

That will mean MPGuino for your pre-OBD-II Geo.

[Vardom]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

What's your commute like? Distance/speeds/urban/rural/hilly/highway?

First bit of advice: get instrumentation. You want to be able to know your fuel economy on each leg of your commute - it will make it a fun challenge, and is critical for adjusting the nut behind the wheel.

That will mean MPGuino for your pre-OBD-II Geo.

My commute was interesting.

Distance:
WAS: 12.4 Miles each way (24.8)
Now: 12.1 Miles one way / 11.5 Miles the other (23.6)

Speeds:
WAS: 55mph (roughly)
Now: Avg. of 35 mph (again roughly, no gauges)

Area:
Was: Urban. I work overnights so I have freeroam after work
Now: No idea, I've only driven it a few times so far

Was: Hilly-ish. A lot of ups and downs along 126. It would be perfect for P&G, unfortunately, the previous owner put bigger tires on it :S
Now: Pretty flat for the most part so it's not as easy to P&G.

I am thinking of doing a mix between highway and back road driving. I would drive the back roads during the day time (on my way to work) where I would drive under 45mph and I wouldn't be a nuisance in traffic for attempting P&G. Then at night time, I could take the highway and P&G.

[Vardom]

Okay, a quick update here. I stopped into Autozone (if any of you guys from Oregon stop in here, I HIGHLY recommend seeing Steve at the West 11th Eugene, OR store. He's an awesome guy who knows his stuff. Trust me on this one, I learned the hard way to listen to him :P)

I found that the report that the insurance "inspector" was not 100% accurate. It turns out that the body is bent. I have been having scraping noises lately and I looked around before and noticed my exhaust, or what's left of it, was showing signs of scraping from rubbing on the springs. Well... the scraping wasn't coming from that! As it turns out, when I got rear ended, the body was pushed up enough that it now scrapes the shocks.

Solution 1: Get a pull-a-long and just crank it away from the shocks... Which means a weak spot on the body.

Solution 2: Buy the 1991 Geo Metro that is on Craigslist for $250 (try for 150-200) and just transplant the motor into it. From the sounds of it, this metro is in "good" condition, but the guy ripped the motor out intending to do a rebuild but just never got to it.


By the way, I was wanting to create a post on my plans and ideas for my Geo / other cars but I wasn't too sure where to post. Could anyone direct me to the proper subforum? Would it be EcoModding Central?