MetroMPG's 1998 Chevrolet Metro (Pontiac Firefly) mods & repairs kitchen sink thread

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

And it looks like I repaired this before and completely forgot about it -- the section of pipe between the flange and the resonator was replaced. It has the telltale signs of my awesome welding skills on it.

I was right! That WAS my crappy welding!

I found my previous exhaust repair thread from 2013, wherein I rebuilt both the front pipe and part of the intermediate pipe:



http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...art-26633.html

... which means I'd better start pricing a replacement for that front pipe.

[Stubby79]

Let me know if you can't find what you need.

[MetroMPG]

I towed my wee trailer wth my wee car this week! Picked up some 4x8's at the hardware store.











I should probably make a dedicated Metro hitch thread for the benefit of search engines.

[freebeard]

Does the crossbar do anything?

[MetroMPG]

That's a remnant from the way this attached to the Prius.

But I left it on as a possible means to help stabilize a small hitch-platform thing I'm thinking about.

[Stubby79]

Reminds me of one I have, that I think will fit many different vehicles...

Something like this:

[MPGeo]

I like the hitch.

[MetroMPG]

Yeah, it's a variation of a commercial one I saw on eBay or somewhere...

[MetroMPG]

The stock ride height of the 96+ Suzukiclones is really high. (It looks so high that GM actually lowered the cars for some of the promotional photography at the time).

I've never really thought the car had excessive body roll, and I don't think its ride is wallowy. That's not my motivation.

Motivation: excessive ride height = poor aerodynamics. Lowering should have the effect of slightly reducing both frontal area and Cd.

Time to address it, with what should be a simple swap. Pictured above is a 20 year-old set of very ratty looking aftermarket lowering springs from...



...the very ratty Swift GT parts car that I junked last summer.

From everything I've read, swapping the parts is supposed to be a super quick job: only about 10 minutes out & 10 minutes in per corner.

My main concern is ride quality -- I drove that Swift GT briefly once, and I vaguely remember it being quite harsh and bouncy. I'm not sure I'll be able to tolerate that for slightly better MPG.

We shall see.

[iveyjh]

You will probably be alright with the newer Firefly weighing more than the older body style. Then again its probably going to sit lower than the GT. We will see. Love that Firefly.