Mullet's Metro Project

[arnphawk]

wow, mullet, the lights look great!

[Johnny Mullet]

I think they are awesome! I even got out last night and drove in the dark to test them out. First thing I had to do is aim them slightly, but now I can see!

Going from this.............


To this...................


is an improvement not only for visibility, but the appearance of the car. I like these "Camaro Style" bucket lights a lot. Sure, I may lose 1 or 2 MPG, but they look great! I never understood why they use lexan plastic for headlamps on a car. My 1995 chevy truck has modern looking lights like the Metro had, but they are made from glass. Glass is the only way to go.

If I remember correctly, JC Whitney used to sell these sealed beam headlamps that turn black when off. I wonder if they still make them and if they have normal brightness?

[bbjsw10]

Hey Johnny make a grill block for that thing it will make up for the difference in headlight easily. That grill opening is huge. Just my .02

[Chris D.]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

If I remember correctly, JC Whitney used to sell these sealed beam headlamps that turn black when off. I wonder if they still make them and if they have normal brightness?

They were made by Phillips.. Long discontinued and their output was alright, not really an upgrade in my opinion.. these were the H6054's..
these are really old pics..




they basically had a honeycomb matrix shape behind the glass painted black, at certain angles the light output wasn't very good, but straight ahead was fine..

I believe this was the reason they discontinued these..

[Johnny Mullet]

Frame repair has been completed. The wife had to work midnight shift, so I took advantage of the 8 hours of "me time" to get this done!
I will get the pictures up as soon as I get home. I am happy with the results.

[bbjsw10]

Cool pics will be good to see how to fix mine. Your metro is looking good with new lights.

[Johnny Mullet]

OK, so the reason most Metro/Firefly/Swift models get scrapped is because of the notorious rust issue they have where the lower control arms mount to. I posted pics of how mine was getting pretty bad previously...................





This issue affect all years of this car even though the older models have a slightly different frame, the same "looped" unibody in the front is similar. After time, the frame will rot away to the point where the lower control arm will detach from the car and the wheel will end up kicking out and separating from the car causing loss of control or a crash or a grinding halt. First thing most people do is start grinding away the rust. This is a bad idea in my opinion, because it weakens the surrounding area and if you keep grinding, you will eventually be grinding away to nothing. I learned to simply go beyond the rust area at least 3-4 inches and as long as it's welded correctly, the new repair will hold all the stress and keep the rusted area from flexing and breaking away.

I took a piece of scrap bar stock and cut a piece that would wrap around the front arm.............



I then welded that in place after forming it to fit with a hammer and a vise.............



I then cut another piece that was cut out for the side opening and made sure it contacted the new piece I just welded in....................





This piece was also welded to the rear arm to secure the mount. The important part of welding is to make sure the area is clean where you are welding to and to get a good burn. The weld must penetrate both sections and not look like rabbit turds when you are done. Don't be afraid to burn it in until both contact areas are melting together with the bead you are laying.



I then made a piece for the outside and welded it to the original piece and formed it to go with the contour of the inner fender area and painted it all with flat black paint........





I also repeated the same repair on the passenger side which was not so bad, but still got the same repair with a wrap around piece and both side braces.............





I am totally confident in this repair and should get a few years of service from it and even longer if I maintain the rust as best as possible.

Scrap steel = $0.00
Total cost = $0.00

Labor time = 5-6 hours.

[bryn]

looks good to me

[metromizer]

Nice looking fix... I'm sure glad I don't have to deal with rust out here in California. I don't know how you guys do it, my hat is off to you, but then again, most people across the US can't understand how I put up with the occational earthquake (thinking back to '89 when the Cypress structure totally collapsed and a peice of the Bay Bridge fell).

You probably already know this Johnny, but check the caster and toe, it likely moved from strenthening the area and from the 'pull' of the welding. As usual, the pictures and descrption of your repairs are awesome!

[Johnny Mullet]

I am resetting the alignment again even though it did not seem to be changed after the repair.