Metro-powered sports car project

[hypermiler01]

You could keep the verticals, but the wing is a parachute.

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Nice, but I think I would keep the wing, modified as sort of the inverse of the bars on semi-trailers that keep cars from going under the trailer in a rear-end collision. There are too many jacked-up pickups & SUVs, driven by cell phone users, and I could just see myself waiting at a light while oblivious idiot rolls through on the red.

[Bicycle Bob]

A straight tube would be a lot more like a parachute. Wings have low drag even when set for moderate downforce.

[Arragonis]

OT I know but I have considered doing a GTM Rossa which is a kit car based on the other Metro - aka the Rover one. No longer in prod but there are a few about, and quite cheap.



Most are built with the 1.4 16v (95-105 hp) K-series but my thoughts have been based around the 1.1 8v (60hp) K-series which is frugal and rev-happy or the 1.5 Diesel (PSA 1.5 also seen in the AX or 106/Saxo) which were also sold in the Rover Metro but with stupidly low gearing (19mph/1000 rpm in a Diesel ?)

If I could merge a Rossa and a 106 Diesel then maybe that is something.

[BobM]

Jack, have you done anymore on this project? I have found a Geo Metro on Craigs list with 49,000 miles, mechanically sound but to rusted to pass PA inspection. Sure wish you had that book out.

[BobM]

Jack, I enjoyed talking to you the other evening. I hope everything went well for you in Ohio and Kentucky.

I have been acquiring the books and researching the net for anything I can find that would relate to building a Metro/Swift locost. The wife is getting supicious as she knows my "modus operandi". She is not pleased with the idea of my building a car but I think she is resigned to it.

I like your idea of making a bolt on power module. Just think, that would give the Ecomodders, track day guys, and EV types their choice. And if you were into all of those you could intergrate trailer hitch attatchments into the frames, put them all in tandem, and go off looking like "The Little Train That Could". Or short couple them and look like you have six drive wheels. That would turn some heads.

Hey...I have been accused of a lot of things in my life, but having good sense has not been one of them

Bob Murdock

[BobM]

Well, this thread seems to have died but I will post here anyway. Never got a reply back on the 49,000 mile Metro in Craig's List but met someone who had a 1989 Subaru Justy engine who claimed it only had 35,000 miles on it. Got that from him and also a Geo long block which he had rebuilt. Sooo....naturally right after that there was a driveable Metro for sale on Craig's List that would not pass the PA inspection. So I bought that also.

So, if anyone needs a '89 Justy engine, I have it listed in the Pittsburgh Craigs's List. Will also be putting the unused Metro parts there too.

My plan was to build a high MPG locost 7 type car. Which Jack is now saying (on the locostUSA site) will probably not get as good of milage as the original car due to the poor aerodynamics of the locost 7 type car. My wife ask me why I was worried about good milage on a car that I would only be driving a few hundred miles a year. Ummmmm...women can be so darn practical.

Anyway, I am in the process of totally striping the Metro. I know that they probably took less than an hour to build this car but it is taking me forever to tear it apart. There seems to be more wiring in this thing than there was in the missile launchers I used to work on before retiring. I have gotten Miata suspension components because I wanted this to be upgradable for more power. My eleven year old grandson will probably wind up with it and I a sure he will want more than fifty HP.

I am open to suggestions on how to go about this build. This is all totally new to me since I have never been a "car person".

[Bicycle Bob]

You probably should start a new thread for this. My advice is to work in a material that you enjoy. Lightweight construction can be done with monocoques or space frames, in metal, composites, or wood, or combinations of all three. Read "Structures" by J.E. Gordon for a great primer on lightweight design, and "How to Make your Car Handle" by Fred Puhn for the basics on making it fun to drive. If you keep it light, the next owner may decide that under 50 HP is the way to go. "It is more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow."

[BobM]

Thanks for the advice Bicycle Bob. I will definitely look into getting those books. Since I have a builder's log going in locostUSA, and it turns out that this is not really going to be a eccomoder car, I probably won't start a new thread. Although I appreciate what you guys have to offer in dealing with Geo Metros.

[Bicycle Bob]

Putting a Metro engine in a Locost should be pretty straightforward, following the usual dodges for converting FWD units to Hotchkiss Drive. You'll probably want a tall final drive, and a super-economy cam. The Locost instructions take care of basic structure and handling, so there's less need for those two books, except as the aerodynamics affect handling, and you can get as creative as you want minimizing wind resistance.

I think you could make a very light, rugged body by gluing up strips of Coroplast with Silicon Seal. A few temporary cardboard bulkheads establish the basic shape. After 3 layers, it starts to firm up very well, and there's no precision needed for an unwoven basket. You need the gaps to let the glue dry. You can build it up in thin layers to get close to the shape, spray it with foam, sand and add a thin skin of 'glass or even just Urethane to make it shiny.

[BobM]

I had never heard of using coroplast and silicone seal for making a body. Where could I find some info on that process?

I had thought of of making a wooden body using the strip canoe or cold mold method. The trouble with that is I would want to get too fancy, like an old Chris Craft runabout, and it would only be good for a show car and would increase the construction time and cost exponentially. Of course I could go with something easy and make the show body interchangable. But that would have to be a future project.

I have already ordered the "How to make your car handle" book you recommended just got an email from Amazon saying it has been shipped.

If you follow the locost threads you are probably familiar with what I have in mind for a chassis when I say there would be roll cage like on the Midlana project car and forward chassis lines like Danny Pook's external frame cars...without the swept up lower rail.