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

[MetroMPG]

Thanks, iveyjh!

Is yours lowered too, or do the side skirts just make it look lower? I love the look of your car every time I see it. Black & white futuristic aero Metro cop car vibe, or something.

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Another thought on lowering...

I was thinking I may be able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone: the stiffer springs may let me delete the sway bars, for a weight reduction bonus!

[Stubby79]

Not one to cut springs?

[MetroMPG]

Cutting springs is the route a lot of Metro owners have taken with good results, and it's Plan B if I'm not happy with the Swift springs.

Swift springs will save a bit of time, though.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by 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.

If it's bouncy, it's probably under-damped, and if so, putting the springs on a heavier car (with the same dampers or dampers with the same rates) will only exacerbate that...

[MetroMPG]

Well! This is not going to be the quick job I thought it might be.

Rear spring removal is supposed to be a quick job of removing 2 nuts, 1 bolt+nut, thus freeing one end of the control link (toe adjustment) from the axle carrier/hub assembly, and then the axle/carrier hub assembly from the control arm, which you then simply push down and the spring falls out! Easy as pie!

HA!

The sleeve in the bushing of the control link is siezed to the stud on the hub assembly. I'll destroy the bushing if I smash it or pry on it any more than I have. (Or heat it.)

Also well and truly siezed is the bolt holding the axle carrier/hub assembly to the control arm. No amount of penetrating oil or hitting it with a mini-sledge is going to free it. And I don't have a torch. And I just broke the adaptor for my little impact driver!

This Firefly has only been winter driven a handful of years, but apparently it was exposed to enough salty mess to convincingly lock these bits together.

* I actually went back to GMF to see if I misread the "10 minutes per" comment. Guess where the poster lives? California! Haha, of course. Rust free California.

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by 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.

The GT had a lot of extra stuff and a heavier twin-cam 4-cyl engine. Weight is probably very similar.

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Another thought on lowering...

I was thinking I may be able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone: the stiffer springs may let me delete the sway bars, for a weight reduction bonus!

That might even improve ride quality! I took the front bar off my Wagon. I couldn't tell from behind the wheel whether it was there or not.

Well! This is not going to be the quick job I thought it might be.

Spring compressor?

[MetroMPG]

I gave up on the rears, for now. But Plan B formulated! (Spring compressor is Plan C... I don't have one.)

The fronts are in. They were much easier - I only stripped 1 siezed nut per side. But they ultimatedly succumbed to big vice grips. GRR.

[Stubby79]

Hmm. Can you just jack up the rear control arm, unbolt the strut, lower the jack and pull out the now uncompressed spring?

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Stubby79

Hmm. Can you just jack up the rear control arm, unbolt the strut, lower the jack and pull out the now uncompressed spring?

Yup! That was Plan B. And I disconnected the control rod at the inboard end (fortunately not siezed). I just had to mark the eccentric adjustment bolt to preserve the same toe setting when I put it back together.

In the end, what should have been a 1 evening job stretched out over a couple, but it's done.

And MAN, is it low:



How low is it? A teenager walking by gave it a sign of the horns wave at a traffic light. (I think that means something.) That has never happened before. Devil stance?

And MAN, it is not smooth riding.

It's not what I would call harsh. But it's quite a bit firmer than the stock Miata, which I drove briefly yesterday for comparison. And it makes my 216k kilometers 2000 Metro feel like a 1970's Buick by comparison.

For me, it's right on the verge too firm. But it is not bouncy, which would have been an immediate deal-killer. I will definitely be removing the sway bars, but I'm going to leave these springs in, for now.

And I'll have to check my alignment - the steering wheel is off center by an inch or so.

Oh, also the air dam is scraping all over the place now. Will need trimming, if it doesn't self-trim before I get to it.