xfi vs xfi grudge match - NOTSWFT vs HONUS

[StudeChamp]

As I was wrapping up the build on my faux '91 xfi, NOT SWFT (see thread: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...geo-29989.html), I cam across the following Craigslist announcement: "Sep 27, 2014 - Looking to trade this awesome 93 Geo Metro for an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus." The photos weren't great, but as I squinted at the rear 3/4 pic of a white '93 Geo, I could have sworn that I saw a sticker that said "metro xfi."

The game was afoot.

Unable to come up with an iphone on short notice, I offered a savage $600 cash instead and asked for the VIN. I got that along with a Carfax shot clearly showing the "MS" VIN. It was the genuine article, rare for California. I called Johnny, and while prevaricating on whether I needed yet another Geo, he told me:

"If you collect baseball cards, you're going to buy Honus Wagner."

So, off we went. And $600 later, here's what we ended up with.

[StudeChamp]

To make this more of an ABA comparison, we are going to pit these cars against each other on two different tracks.

I've already spent a bundle on the red car (NOTSWFT) making it both aesthetic and efficient. Here's the list:

Completed:
New paint
Suzuki Swift front and rear bumpers
Fresh interior
13 in tires
Delete passenger side mirror
Custom kammback
Swift lower front bumper
Swift 3.51 final drive transaxle
xfi computer and CAM
Rebuilt engine running 0w oil (Note: adding in some 5w).
Fresh front bearings
Rebuilt high flow injector
Restored interior (incl delete belts from door, custom panels)

In process:
Alignment; rear brakes and bearings
Red River OBDI display (bluetooth/tablet)
Exhaust mods

Build list on the white xfi (Honus):

Stock xfi (with correct rotating assembly), stock tranny
Newish 12" tires off a parts car
MPGuino
Throw away as much s*** as possible.

In other words, anything we can buy for the red car, we will. Anything we can do on a shoestring for the white car, we'll do that.

I commute from the foothills to the valley (approx 150' elevation loss/gain). Johnny commutes from the mountains to the valley (approx 3560' elevation gain). I drive kids, he carries equipment. Should be fun. I noticed the enthusiasm waning on my previous build thread, so I am hoping that a tit-for-tat competitive mod thread/grudge match will keep us on our game. Smack talk encouraged.

[StudeChamp]

Alignment tools arrived today. The Jegs toe plates were about $55, inlcuding tape measures. The camber tool was around $20. I was a bit surprised to see that the camber tool had a wing nut connecting the level to the magnet. What's the sure-fire way to get a perfect right angle on that? Start with a perfectly plumb metal post?

[Xist]

The Blue Book was $230?

Good luck! Please keep us updated!

[StudeChamp]

So Johnny (I think he finally has an ecomodder account - xfispy?) borrowed my truck (to go move a friend's Mondial or something like that) and left Honus at my house. "I'm going to peel absolutely everything on that car, first chance I get," he's been saying since we got it. Not being one to disappoint a friend, I recruited a Helper, age 4, and got to work.

The previous owner left me a veritable treasure of stuff in the spare tire compartment -- pens, broken CDs, a bald tire on the original rim that was missing. I felt like I was in that scene from Jaws where they're going through the shark's stomach -- the only thing missing was the blonde. Anyway, we filled a 5gal bucket with stuff.

A previous owner had screwed in (!) some 1in rigid styrofoam insulation at the rear RH quarter panel -- see pic. An experiment in sound deadening? Or just a place to store 4 or 5 chunks of styrofoam?

Still, my favorite touch was the vise grip standing in as the driver's window crank. Hey, free vise grip.

[StudeChamp]

Seeing "Made in Canada" with a production date of 1992 on the rear seat lower made me happy. MetroMPG, here's a shout-out to you!

For those of you restoring your Geos, please note that the 5 door and 3 door rear seat lowers are different. The 5 doors have 45 deg corners on the seat front, probably for clearance on ingress (they didn't stretch the floorpan THAT much). The 3 doors run straight across to a 90. Putting the 5 door seat in a three door leaves exposed floorpan and electrical -- the carpet doesn't go back far enough. I am hoping that this seat lower comes clean, as it's the same interior as my car, and hey, Johnny said he doesn't want it. I'll take pics when I do a base swap.

[StudeChamp]

Pulled the seats, pulled the carpet, pulled quarter and door panels. Helper discovered loose change and was sure to vacuum carefully.

I had a heck of a time getting the seats to align -- I have the same problem on NOTSWFT - what's the trick to getting the tracks perfectly parallel when you put them back in? NOTSWFT is crooked enough that the driver seat doesn't want to move.

We ended up with quite a pile of stuff. I will weigh it once the sun's up...





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[StudeChamp]

A friend gave me a group 27 deep cycle battery. Took a charge just fine. I bought a battery box on Amazon for $18. I plan on installing sometime this week. I'll probably paint the box the same grey as the other interior panels and sister it up to the rear RH shock tower.

The battery has enough cranking amps (675) to replace the current 12 volt entirely (the Geo takes 390 cold crank amps, best as I can tell).

[XFiSPY]

Just kidding, I love it! You and your helper made quick work of the planned peel. Will I get beyter mileage less the broken cds?

[XFiSPY]

On a side note. When I tracked the mileage of Honus with trunk full of maintenance tools, FULL; 350lbs?, i received a 15 percent drop in economy. I expected that, but it still hurt my feeling.