Just bought a '90 Metro XFi, have questions...

[Coyote X]

Interior repair is easy. Just take out everything, scrape the asphalt like sound deadening off, paint it, then cover it with cheap carpet.





To save the most money then doing the simple stuff like weight reduction and minor aero mods (grille block, passenger mirror delete) are your best bet. A lot of the bigger mods end up costing enough that the payback on them from better mileage takes years so from a strictly money saving point of view they are not worth it.

In my opinion the first thing would be strip the interior down and take the sound deadening stuff off to help keep it from rusting as fast and put some good paint on the floor. Then either replace and restore the interior or do away with it and cover the metal with carpet. I normally ran my xfi with only the drivers seat and removed all other seats/seatbelts. It should be no more than a day of messing with the interior to get it nice looking, the cars are pretty simple to take apart and work on.

Other than the basic interior work and a good tune up I would probably just drive the car for a while and make sure it is getting at least 50mpg before doing any mods. Without a baseline you are kind of shooting in the dark with the mods. The weight reduction is just to improve acceleration and really won't give you a big increase in mileage.

[TELVM]

Sadly a Miata would be a poor choice for a low fuel consumption platform, its aerodynamics are bad when covered, atrocious when open.

(This is just facts and not flogging, the Miata is one of the most joy-bringing cars in the world).

[TimJFowler]

Originally Posted by ohmycivic

Okay, so it looks like I'll be doing a piece by piece swap instead of a whole shell swap... there are a few pull-it-yourself junkyards within 5 miles of me, and I know that at least one of them has a bunch of metros so I won't be at a loss for parts anyway.

This is definitely the easier and simpler route! Don't overcomplicate things - you have a running car now just swap good parts for the broken or missing. I'd suggest finding a donor Metro or two with the same color interior and exterior and stripping everything you need all at one time (instead of making lots of trips back to the yard). Then you can replace parts as you have the time until your car looks as good as you can get it.

Once your Metro looks decent and runs well - then you can worry about modding it.

One step at a time,
Dr.F.

[ohmycivic]

Attached are my first round of pics prior to doing any work on it. Any blur in the photos is probably due to the car idling. I had it up to change the oil pan gasket, which was a major pain in the butt for someone who couldn't even identify the oil pan going in. But I'll be damned if I won't save $150 over five hours on my day off. Yes, five hours -- includes digging for tools in a cluttered garage, asking neighbors for cigarettes and paint thinner, buying sealant, oil, and a Haynes manual, and renting a torque wrench from Auto Zone. Actual wrenching time was probably about two hours.

Fun things I encountered were a mysterious oil pan screw that will NOT tighten past a few fps and is not stripped (doesn't leak, though), a frozen bolt/nut (that spins together but is entirely inseparable) joining the header to the exhaust, and its sibling that decided the nut needed to break off a part of the bolt, but the bolt itself is stripper to hell and will NOT come out. Maneuvering that damned oil pan around the exhaust was nearly impossible, and doing it backwards during the reinstall proved to be even more of a headache.

Wednesday is when I drop in the radiator, fix a mysterious fuel leak that wasn't there when I bought it (found a small puddle in my driveway, probably about 1/2 oz over 4 days), and if I have time get it registered and install the stereo. I just noticed how severely worn the front tires are -- down to the belt on small patches. Not bad considering they're probably the originals. Do they even make 145/80/12's anymore?

[ohmycivic]

All of the wires were cut when aftermarket stereo was pulled out so there's no stock connector. Can anyone give me the color codes for which wires are which? I haven't been able to find my multimeter for months, so it'd be a great help.

I'm going to have to put in all new speakers (they must've been pulled too) so I don't need those color codes.

As an update, the oil pan itself had a tiny leak, but a bit of silicone and JB Weld took care of that. Also took care of the header to exhaust connection, and a hole in the muffler. JB is now officially my favorite epoxy.

Fuel line had an unusual leak a few millimeters from the "front," in the "overlap" area where the tube fits over the extrusion (yes, it is clamped -- it only leaked when wiggled) so I siliconed it and it works fine. There's also a leak at the back connection that seems to be the same thing, but I can't get to it with my huge manly hands and the paltry clearance I get with my ramps. Same deal where it only leaks when wiggled, I might see if my mechanic will let me take a crack at it when I go to get the oil changed 3k miles from now.

[Coyote X]

I have the wiring diagrams for the cars floating around here I will post them when I find them.

But aside from that you are doing good so far with the car. Main thing should be to get all the mechanical problems fixed and get it driving and getting the standard ~50mpg for an xfi model.

When you have it up on the lift changing the oil look at the front control arm mounting area really good and make sure there is no rust there. The rusted fenders and doors are minor since they are easy to swap out with non rusted ones. But the front control arms are something you will have to have a welder fix for you. The rear control arm mounts can also rust out but they are not quite as common a problem as the front. Check them out anyway while it is on the lift just to make sure though.

If you have a rust issue that should be your next thing to do once the mechanical problems are taken care of. If they are ok then oil/grease them up really good and start driving and get a good baseline mileage before doing mods. Once you get started messing with these cars you will be addicted and won't be able to keep your hands off it

[Johnny Mullet]

I agree with CoyoteX. Especially being a WI car. Check those front lower control arm mounts.

[ohmycivic]

I don't know what the control arms are. It's okay, laugh, I often do when people don't understand computer-related stuff and ask me.

I DO know that pretty much anything that was rubber or nylon or plastic is dissolved. I'm having all kinds of chunks of 'em falling off when I'm underneath the car. Nothing vital like hoses or anything, but stuff like the things at the link of the shifter (I think they're called "brushings"). Still works fine, though.

[metromizer]

Originally Posted by ohmycivic

I don't know what the control arms are

neither did I (or anyone else here for that matter) until someone showed me...

Johnny Mullet repaired his rotted out trailing arms and subframe himself, and has a great link complete with pictures. read up.

You mentioned a slight fuel leak that you repaired with silicone...

Ummmm... I hate to sound like your dad, but dude, don't mess with fuel leaks. I've seen the result first hand. Slathering some RTV over or under a leaking connection or hose will get you home, but I'd be repairing that with new parts on a very high priority basis. my 2cents

keep up the good work!

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by metromizer

Johnny Mullet repaired his rotted out trailing arms and subframe himself, and has a great link complete with pictures. read up.

Frame rust repair