The Silver Bullet lives on!!

Well, I just finished the rebuild and so far everything looks good. We got hit with severe stormy weather here and I finally broke down and made me a tent over my working area with a tarp. The amount of water that came down around here was unreal. Anyhow, I got 'er all back together this afternoon and hopped in it and went to work. When I left the house, it ran a little rough. I babied it all the way to work at about 45mph and by the time I got there, it was purring like a kitten with a full tummy. Ater replacing the tranny and rebuilding the engine, the only thing I forgot was to put a hose clamp on a heater hose. After fighting the weather, the last 3 days, that's pretty good. :lol: Now, all I have to do is clean this booger up and make it look decent.
I was kickin' the thought around the last year, or so, to do this job, but the thing ran so good and still had quite a bit of power, even at 207,000 miles. It was amzing, what I found, when I tore it down. The seals on these things are not worth a damn, for one thing. The oil pump seal leaked a little, which was acceptable, but the rear main seal, crumbled like stale bread, when I pushed against it. Despite the fact that the rear main was totally shot, I was only losing a quart between oil changes. What really made me have to drop everything and do this major overhaul, was the fact that my front seal on the tranny gave up. Everytime I stopped, I would see a nice bunch of smoke pouring out from under the front end. Since having my car catch on fire wouldn't be one of my greater excursions, I put 'er down. When I pulled the engine away from the bell housing, a steady stream of tranny fluid was running down to the ground.:lol:
Amazingly enough, about the best gasket on one of these, is the valve cover gasket, unlike most other cars. So, if you ever overhaul one of these, make sure you buy top quality seals and use good gasket sealer on the gaskets and you'll keep your oil on the inside for a very long time. My piston ring end gap on my old rings was .015 and the cylinder taper did not call for a rebore. so, it's basically a re-ring with a machined crank. My original was still in fine operating order but I did find a little unusual wear on one rod journal. Oil pressure always seemed good, so it never gave any trouble. The lifters aren't the greatest design either. They say to run SAE 30 or lighter for these, because they don't discharge quite fast enough and that is a large contributor to the valve burning issues. I think my valves were fine, despite the fact that I did have a weak lifter. My cmpression was something like, 194,187,184, which I thought was impressive, for the amount of miles it had on it.
The transmission still worked great, but there was a shudder in reverse. I bought a JDM that has 60,000 or less. Shipping included came to only 300 bucks.:smokin: so I went for it.
I have lower control arms, with new ball joints and bushings, arriving this week. With those and new brakes, I should be set for a while.

So, that is the joys of refurbishing a Metro, in a nutshell.

I rebuilt the engine in my motorhome last Spring and remanufactured the front half of the brake system, so I've been busy twisting wrenches.

Jeff Foxworthy, just last week said that if you see him under a car, to call 911, because he does not work on cars.:grinyes: Me, if you see ME under a car, just make sure you bring me a cold beer.:popcorn:

At this time of year, you'd probably prefer a hot cup of coffee.....with Rum...?

Would have been nice had you taken digital photos while you worked on the car
and posted them here.

It is interesting how many new threads and posts this Geo Metro Forum has versus
other Forums - like the Tracker or Suzuki Esteem.

Must be hords of folk with Metros!

I see quite a few on the road here in Spokane.

If I am getting gas or am in a parking lot and see someone in a Geo Metro, I ask
them if they'd like to sell it.

I have NEVER had anyone say yes - it is always, "Hell no! I love this car!"

Me too.....

DoctorBill

Congradulations Leon, it appears you may be 'over the hill' in terms of keeping your aging metro in good repair with all the good work you've done to 'er.

Like you said, that ring end-gap is well within specification. I do ass-u-me you had the cylinders honed to accept the new rings? I'm not entirely surprised that you had rod journal wear, more than a few of my fleet have fallen via a spun rod bearing. You did mention in a previous post that you had planned to turn the crank .010/.010, correct?

It may have ran a little rough initially due to the lifters being 'deflated,' particularly if you placed them in a vice/press and squeezed the oil out of them prior to assembly.

In any case, I'm glad to hear the work has paid off. You'll be driving her for miles and miles yet!

-MechanicMatt

Yep, honing the cylinders is a good idea. It'll help them seat a lot faster. I picked up a .010/.010 crank for a good deal, so I still have the old one. The old one seemed okay. No knocks or anything and the oil pressure was good, but I went ahead and replaced it.

Funny comment on the drink Doctor Bill. Yea, I hear what you're sayin' about the Metro. You know, I hardly see these things in the wrecking yards anymore, unless they're really thrashed. Like you, I love this car. Even after I go through the other stuff and rebuild them, I'll still be in this a lot less than a new car and probably get just as good of service. Mine is an automatic with air, so it's even more spoiling.:lol: I might consider lowering it, to help take the "lean" out of the cornering. I seen posts here about that and it sounds like a cool idea. I still run the 12" tires, so I shouldn't have any trouble with rubbing tires.

Sorry I didn't get photos. My bad. I didn't take them when I rebuilt my motorhome either and that's somewhat a classic.
The Metro engine was so small and light, I just set it up on my work bench and rebuilt it. It kinda reminded me of an Evinrude Triumph 55hp I worked on once. They're a 3 cylinder like the Metro.

Remember the old Crosleys? They had a little 4 banger about the size of the Metro 1.0. I think their's may have been closer to 1200 cc's. These engines were also used for industrial applications as well. In 1950, Crosley cars were discontinued and a few years later these engines ended up being used for Homelite outbards. They redesigned the oil pan, pick up tub and intake manifold, so they could stand the engine up on end.

You can see some history on them here:
http://www.martyonline.com/yellow_jacket_wood_boat_company_history/inboards/

I picked up a few of these a while back. The top end is just like the Metro 1.0. The pistons have to be installed from the bottom, because the head is not detachable. So if anyone tells you they blew a head gasket in a Crosley, laugh at them.

All and all, what did it cost you on your engine rebuild? I'd have to figure around 400. Which is a one time deal vs. a new car at 400 a month! :grinyes:
Thank god for Metro's.

I would say between 4 - 6 hundred. Depending on the condition of your engine. Pistons are about 25 bucks and rings about the same, so the worst case scenario would add about 75 bucks to your rebuild. Not too shabby. I did have to add a new water pump after the rebuild, so that would add a 50 dollar bill, for a lifetime warranty pump. I hope this helps.

Leon