Yes, a Geo Metro. 3 cylinders of fury! I do not know the exact reason this car is being restored but I do know it has a lot of sentimental value to its owner.

The car will be red when finished. The car will have reupholstered seats and rag top along with reconditioned plastics on the inside. The list is huge what needs to be done to this car but it will be fun.


Car being stripped down. Dont mind mess in background. We had just pushed a TON on work through that small area.


Makes me want to turn one into a dune buggy some day. Can anyone see where I got fed up trying to find a missing socket?


All the rust has been sandblasted, etched primed and worked over so it will last a long time.


Everything on top and under rockers cleaned and in primer.


Hood wasn't all to bad but still needed a little tlc.


More to come.

[This message has been edited by Chris Hodson (edited 08-01-2011).]

Engine swap? Since it was the same as a Suzuki swift -available with a 1.3l 4cyl- and Suzuki currently offers a 1.3l 4 cyl in a bike...

I call it the Haya-metro.

No?

Well you can't argue with 50mpgs. Keep up the good work. Looks nice so far.

93 Geo Metro Total Restoration

WHY?



Steve

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.

Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

Its incredibly underpowered and doesn't seem to run great so I Imagine there will be some engine work. As far as an engine swap goes, I highly doubt it but wow would that be fun. Anything has got to make more power than whats in it. What I like about the motor in it now is that I can pretty much pull it out with my own strength.
Why you ask? Sentimental value is more than a good enough reason

I love those little cars.. the convertible, no less! Awesome! I will be watching with great interest and little else to do!

Sweet....I nearly bought one of those when I was in college....I think they were like $10k new and got 50 something mpg.

My '92 was a zippy little thing (for a Metro, that is). You couldn't feel the acceleration, but before yo uknew it you were speeding. IT was definetely faster than the '89 I drove on occasion before. The only thing I noticed that was different was that the exhaust on the '92 had been completely replaced and there was no catalytic converter on it. Perhaps they were restrictive to begin with...I suggest you replace or remove it as your conscience or the law will allow.

If you welded the back half of a Fiero on that you would have a nice push~n~pull

Brad

Look into the turbo version of that engine, which was available (I think) in the Canadian offerings. It had a sub 8 second 0-60 time, and still returned really good MPG. I looked at an 87 Chevy Sprint Turbo when they were new, opted instead for the Fiero GT. (Mileage wasn't that important to me then)

I had a 89 firefly. I hate to say it, but I loved that car. It was dirt cheap to operate, it was quick and peppy and I could put a crap load of stuff in the back.

I traded it for the Fiero, that had its benefits, but never matched cheap to operate, peppy and, well, it didn't even have a back.

I put in new struts, I waxed, I polished, a new stereo I steam cleaned..color matched the front and rear bumpers. Crazy amount of work.

I had one of those (93 Metro 3 cyl convertable). It was good on gas, but slow and got pushed around like crazy on windy days. I hear the big problem with them now (after years of rust) is the front suspension components and anchor points rust away, leaving the car pretty much un-fixable.

[This message has been edited by 1fatcat (edited 08-02-2011).]

quote Originally posted by Chris Hodson: Makes me want to turn one into a dune buggy some day. Can anyone see where I got fed up trying to find a missing socket?

I'll guess the dumped out red toolbox on the left side of the photo. Could make a fun dune buggy with a little more power.

I swapped a head on one of these, a hard top version, ($300 for rebuilt head and all gaskets) and a new idler pulley ($5-wrecking yard) on one of these for a friend. It was a good car, 5spd manual got nearly 60 mpg and started every day. Wish I'd known he was trading it in, I would have given him more than the $300 he got at the dealer.

Passenger side worked over and primed. Doors are a step away from 2nd prime.

You and Xredes should get together to swap hi-performance parts....

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!!

I recently sold my 91 Metro XFi for a fairly large profit from when I bought it. Gas rose up a ton a few weeks before I decided to sell, so it went for a lot. I sold it in less than 24 hours from putting it on CL. I had so many people calling that I had to make a list... it filled up the page.

Sweet! A metro being restored is unique. Most people considered them throw-away cars. I'm glad someone wanted one restored. I am all about restoring any older car .
I'm restoring three old cars right now. I just couldn't let them rot away...

-Dave

quote Originally posted by theBDub: I recently sold my 91 Metro XFi for a fairly large profit from when I bought it. Gas rose up a ton a few weeks before I decided to sell, so it went for a lot. I sold it in less than 24 hours from putting it on CL. I had so many people calling that I had to make a list... it filled up the page.

That's how it was when I bought my '89 CRX HF......I called within 45 minutes of it being posted and wasn't the first person to have contaced him. Luckily I was able to get to his house first and drove it home. When I decide to sell it I'm sure I'll also have no trouble selling it fast.

As for the Metro.....the convertibles are cool. I always wanted to get one and make it into a Swift GT.....they never made a convertible version of the Swift. The G13B is a nice little motor....1.3L twin cam w/100 horses and still got 40 MPG. I had a '92 Swift GT and it surprised a lot of people with how quick it was.

quote Originally posted by 84fiero123: 93 Geo Metro Total Restoration WHY? Steve

Because he can.
A gearhead is a gearhead is a gearhead.

The resell on these is very good.

Bump for more updates?

quote Originally posted by MidEngineManiac: You and Xredes should get together to swap hi-performance parts.... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!!

Oh you pr*ck you

Nice resto Chris. Wanna help do my Storm next? hehehe

Why restore a Geo? Cause its fun and "profitable" (mainly fun) But no one else does it, so its unique

[This message has been edited by Xerces_Blackthorne (edited 08-09-2011).]

quote Originally posted by JazzMan: Wish I'd known he was trading it in, I would have given him more than the $300 he got at the dealer.

I have one that needs work. I'd take $500 for it.

Wait, I think what I have is a Storm. Never mind.

[This message has been edited by fierobear (edited 08-09-2011).]

I have been driving geo metros as my daily drivers for about 10 years now.
My 1st one was a 91 and I installed a JDM motor from Japan. That was my first engine swap ever
and I was very proud of myself. I sold that car back in 06 and purchased a 93 with a burnt valve. I purchased an ACDELCO reman longblock on e-bay and that is my current daily driver. Starts at -30 in the winter and it takes 12 inches of snow before it has problems.

The verts were made in Japan and the 2 and 4 door hardtops were made in Canada. The verts have many parts that are different from the hardtops and are harder to find. Finding good weatherseals is almost like trying to find fiero t-top weather seals.

Just like the fiero, when I go to the junkyard, I hoard parts. So if need something let me know.

[This message has been edited by RossT (edited 08-09-2011).]

There is red paint on this beast I dont want to ruin it for the customer if shes eyeballing this thread. The car will be done by sat morning so ill post pics then.

quote Originally posted by Chris Hodson: There is red paint on this beast I dont want to ruin it for the customer if shes eyeballing this thread. The car will be done by sat morning so ill post pics then.

Cool I'm excited to see the results!

Here is a sneak peak.



The front bumper cover was messseeeddd upppp. My boss plastic welded the cracks, then we cut out the center grill and he patched up the corners. Its cool the bumper was saved because its hard to get one of these in good condition. I tinted the little lights on the front because I could lol. That ugly thing in the grill area will be the license plate holder.

I got the new carpet installed and it looks great.

Cant wait to post more pictures.

Lookin good!

I think the story behind the car is that it has been in possession of three of her relatives and each person who owned it said that they were going to restore it. Each one of them passed away before making it happen. I think that is why she had us put the saying pay it forward on the back. The job went fairly smooth. There are a few minor parts missing from when we received the car but most of it can be bought off ebay no problem.

The rag top was actually pretty difficult to make look good. You could probably adjust it all day long and still not be completely happy with it but I got it to a point where I was satisfied. The interior cleaned up nice with the new carpet and seat covers etc. I doubt you will see another front bumper cover like this one on another geo metro. It was so messed up when we got it. Im really surprised it looks as good as it does. My boss is very handy with the plastic welder and his 20 something years of experience over me haha. He cut out the cross pieces, filled and smoothed the sides then we body worked it from there. I ended up tinting the front turn signals to add some contrast. We will more than likely add some black pinstripe at a later date.

Overall we are very happy with how this turned out and the customer was very happy too

For the past week we both have been putting in 14 hour days on this car. Now we can all take a nap.

Damn, I have this irrational little obsession with the convertible metros. I cannot admit how fast id get one if the right one came by in the right price range... This is not helping! Looks awesome! really fun to watch take shape.

That's the cleanest and best looking Geo Metro I've ever seen Great job!

Looks great! I've actually been looking for one for my daughter. I would even buy a fixer upper and restore it. They are hard to find locally.

NICE work man...Gawd, that thing takes me back to 1998...I knew this girl who had a white one with a black top...and cow-print seat and steering wheel covers...LOL, never date a stripper from Montreal ...woh, talk about wilder than any 8 second ride

Awwe, it's an Auto.

I thought it was a good car.

Brad

Its a good car I have been compelled to get one. Ill be keeping an eye out. The car is like an erector set. Not bad to work on at all.

so much hate on this thread for this car! i think your doing an awesome job on the restoring. a new motor is a must tho i believe you can put a vacuum cleaner motor in it and up the hp by quite a bit. should increase your fuel economy to :-P. j/k looks great it should make it another 20 years :-)

If taken care of 20 years should be doable. My boss Ken put new plugs and wires in along with an oil change and the thing ran great. Could use a muffler but i havent been around a geo that had not been loud.