My eco-Barina Journey

[bobo333]

Hi guys,

Found this forum after following a link on TeamSwift .net, after the price of fuel in my area jumped 25c per litre in the last week i thought it might be prime time to try out some ecomodding!

I am currently driving a 93 Holden Barina (rebadged Suzuki Swift) and have started with a bit of a tidy up and some small upgrades

[D.O.G.]

Welcome, this is a great place to learn & there's always something interesting to read.
If you can't find something to help take the sting out of fuel prices here...... you aren't trying.

[Tesla]

Before anything, while you research, determine what your current fuel usage is and consider other monitoring equipment to keep an eye on coolant temp changes, many use a scangauge to get more instant economy readings rather than tank to tank.
As for mods best bet start with the front of vehicle, appropriate grille blocking excluding excess airflow through engine bay, if you have upper & lower grille the upper should be mostly sealed and cooling air should come in through the lower one, sealing body panels around radiator so remaining air is directed through radiator and some front body work with airdam and flat undertray to about front wheel axles. This work shouild yield some economy benefits and you may well see improved handling as well.
Do lots of reading first and get some records so you know what your start point is.

[larrybuck]

Welcome! Sounds like you have made a good vehicle choice! Thanks for the vehicle interpretation for those of us not familiar with the Holden models.

When you get enough posts, could you share a vehicle picture?

[bobo333]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, this forum is certainly a wealth of information

Some instrumentation is high on my list of priorities, but my options are limited at the moment as my engine is carby fed. First i want to get a vacuum gauge and a more accurate coolant temp gauge and maybe convert from the standard distributor setup to electronic ignition later on down the track.

As far as aerodynamics are concerned Ive already started modifying the rear bumper of my spare parts car to cut out the "parachute" section in the middle and make way for a flat under tray from the rear axle back. I'm also figuring out how to do some small boat tails behind the rear wheels. I'm doing all the mods on my parts car first so i can do back to back tests easier when i swap it all over to the good car

A partial grill block and front under tray are also on the cards and Ive swapped the mirrors for smaller ones but i think i will delete them completely if i can find a decent wide angle mirror for the interior.

Ive got plenty of pics of everything so once my post count is up i will post pics of my progress so far

[bobo333]

ive got enough posts to put up pics now so here they are:




is this thread the appropriate place to follow the build or is there a build thread section somewhere on the forum i haven't found yet?

[cleanspeed1]

Do the Geo Metro Xfi cam swap. Plenty of info here on it. Then tune the car and drive better. The Metro threads about the XFi conversion and the advice from Metro owners will really help here. Love the wheels!

[Peter7307]

Originally Posted by bobo333

A partial grill block and front under tray are also on the cards and Ive swapped the mirrors for smaller ones but i think i will delete them completely if i can find a decent wide angle mirror for the interior.

You can use the number plate as a partial grille block but check with Transport SA regarding the deletion of mirrors.

Oh yeah , Welcome to the place from me as well.

Peter.

[bobo333]

hi guys,

You can use the number plate as a partial grille block but check with Transport SA regarding the deletion of mirrors.

Oh yeah , Welcome to the place from me as well.

Peter.

thanks for the warm welcome, ive checked the SA laws and i need to have at least 2 mirrors operational, so the inside one on the windscreen will be upgraded to a larger wide angle one and my drivers side will be deleted (passenger side retained to see the kerb when parking)

Do the Geo Metro Xfi cam swap. Plenty of info here on it. Then tune the car and drive better. The Metro threads about the XFi conversion and the advice from Metro owners will really help here. Love the wheels!

sounds good il have a look into it, thanks

i cant find a more appropriate section for a build thread so this shall be it , stay tuned!

[bobo333]

And here commences the build thread:

Il start at the start, i bought the car off a customer at work who was going to scrap it as he was moving over seas the next week and didnt have time to sell, here it is after a wash:






Soon after getting it i started removing broken/unnecessary things, such as the badges, rear windscreen wiper, and roof racks:




My next mod was to replace the broken factory mirrors, i used these cheap chrome ones as factory replacements were out of my budget but now im thinking they might be a bit more aerodynamic too :


I also gave it a general service, cleaned a few little things up and added a new head unit as i bought it without one:


After this it served a short life as a competition car audio SPL car, reaching a pb of 148.3db with an 18" mach 5 audio IXL sub and an Epsilon EA5000d amplifier, and winning multiple trophies.

Then the water pump died along with the head gasket, so the project was shelved for a few months while i moved on to bigger and better things...

more next post