Starion Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I've done loads of things to the 'tro lately so I thought I'd make a thread. Well I bought the car in september for £375, with 6 months tax and 12 months MOT, and I've been driving it ever since. I've given it a oil change, a new oil filter, a new air filter, a new fuel filter, new spark plugs, new leads, I swapped in the distributor from the old Metro because I found a fault with the vaccumn advance that was making the car run generally sh*te, I then put in new points and a new condensor for good measure, and a new vaccumn advance pipe because that'd split too. More recently I set the mixture and adjusted the carb as it was running way too rich, I put new exhaust clamps on to help stop the exhaust blowing, it's got a new fanbelt and a new battery as well. I fitted remote central locking the other week as well as a new drivers door lock because that was broken, I put in a pioneer radio and new speakers, and on friday I've given it some Rover Coupe half leather seats. Next week I'm putting new brake shoes and wheel cylinders on, and fitting a black MG Metro rear spoiler, I've also got a new fuel sender unit that I need to fit soon as the fuel gauge doesn't work. piccys: Oh and the half leather seats I fitted: Future plans are to spray the door cards black and get some alloy window winders and door grabbers, and possibly get a black carpet if I find one, and I want to get a horn push for my steering wheel to make it look less ghetto. Some MG Metro or Metro GTA crossspoke wheels would be nice but I don't have the money yet. mod it with Nitrous Oxide and chassis dyno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illousion Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I do quite like those things, yours look nice. What year is it? Dreaming of California, where the sun never sets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starion Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 It's a very early 1990, one of the last of the older shape Metro's. mod it with Nitrous Oxide and chassis dyno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Reminds me of a heavier, better-equipped Mini. I wanna drive it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sivispacem Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Reminds me of a heavier, better-equipped Mini. I wanna drive it. I wanna remove the Hydragas and drop in a VHPD on throttle bodies. Preferably where the rear seats once were. AMD Ryzen 5900X (4.65GHz All-Core PBO2) | Gigabye X570S Pro | 32GB G-Skill Trident Z RGB 3600MHz CL16 EK-Quantum Reflection D5 | XSPC D5 PWM | TechN/Heatkiller Blocks | HardwareLabs GTS & GTX 360 Radiators Corsair AX750 | Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic XL | EVGA GeForce RTX2080 XC @2055MHz | Sabrant Rocket Plus 1TB Sabrant Rocket 2TB | Samsung 970 Evo 1TB | 2x ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q | Q Acoustics 2010i | Sabaj A4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*MURDOC* Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Awwww yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los Santos Pedestrian Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Nice car. Must be hell getting in the back seats though. Also it doesn't surprise me that there are clouds in the pictures you took. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 The back actually looks a lot easier to get into and roomier than say, an E36 coupe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 The steelies look really good. Looks great for £400. I'd lower it a bit like sivi said. Still great little project! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) I'm not big on the steelies. I think it would look ace on a set of later 13" Minilites. Does the metro and the mini share bolt patterns? Edited January 18, 2012 by Lurch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starion Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 Yeah Lurch, the Mini and Metro share the same stud pattern, but Metro wheels have a way larger center bore so not all Mini wheels fit, sadly. Oh well though, I bought these last week! Happy days. 12X5 Minilights with the correct center bore, running on Yokohama A539's all round. Gonna fit my MG boot spoiler at some point too. I might drop the suspension on the rear a little to match the front, but it's waaaay too cold at the moment to do stuff like that, haha. mod it with Nitrous Oxide and chassis dyno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) Nice. I absolutely love minilites on small british cars. From Minis, MG's, Triumphs, Caterhams, Lotus, Jensons, Austin Healeys, etc. It's just a classic wheel that looks as much at home on an old british car as a old knockoff wire and much more at home on the slightly more modern stuff. Kind of like basketweave-style BBS wheels on an old German car. Looks great. Also, what size tires are they. Look surprisingly low profile for a 12. Edited February 4, 2012 by Lurch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starion Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 The tyres are 165/60/12, a little wider than the wheels but I love the wide stance that they give. mod it with Nitrous Oxide and chassis dyno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 A 165 looks really good on a 5" wide wheel. It's what the 4.5" wheels on my bug ran. Look fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 That's a sexy metro starion, btw how easy was fitting remote central locking? I'm getting a Mondeo soon and was wondering about getting that done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suction Testicle Man Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Lovely Metro, very clean. Personally I prefer the old steel rims, but it still looks great. Just don't lower it (if you're considering it) - it's sitting very nicely as it is. Though I'd hazard a guess that it could do with some tighter suspension - does it handle like a walrus on a unicycle? If at first you don't succeed, you fail, and the test will be terminated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starion Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Thanks guys Chris: The central locking was really easy to fit, all it needed was just a live and a earth to the control unit, and then to fit the solenoids to the locks in the door. No drilling needed I just used existing holes. If your mondeo already has central locking, you can buy a kit that just adds a receiver to the wiring loom you already have, which makes things easier. STM: True, any lower on the front and it'll scrub haha. I might drop it a little on the rear to match the front, because there's about an inch difference in height between the front and back, and that's with a full tank of fuel. It handles surprisingly well though as is, I suppose being really light helps. With the new wheels it corners waaay more responsively and there's sh*t loads of grip. There's not much body roll either which is surprising. mod it with Nitrous Oxide and chassis dyno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*MURDOC* Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Looking excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 The rear looks like it could come down a little bit. The front looks pretty good though. Maybe could come down half an inch or so. Should be handling like a gocart though. As much as I usually dislike FWD cars, on things like this or a Mini I think it really shines. So small and light without much power totally fighting the the steering. Even though my BMW has spoiled me a bit, I still remember how fun a little low power car can be. I really need to get the ole VW running again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starion Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 It'd be a good idea to sort out my exhaust blow, haha. mod it with Nitrous Oxide and chassis dyno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garfield 2 Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Even though it looks cool, it sounds like a lawnmower That's why I'll never go back below anything with 5 cylinders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 I always thought the BMC sounded pretty good for a 4 cylinder. The 998 that you and cursed run is just a single SU right? Dual SU's or dual webbers would probably sound sweet on it (at least at full throttle). I road around in a 1275 with duals and a decent aftermarket exhaust and it was one mean sounding 4 cylinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starion Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 (edited) Yeah the carb I'm running at the moment is a Hif 38, which is a single SU 1.5", it's really the most ideal carb for the standard small bore engines. (998, 1098) But I do have the tail pipe of a Maniflow exhaust system that I'm going to fit. I just want to buy the rest of the system first before I fit it. I'd love to eventually get a MG Metro 1275 engine for it, they have over 70hp and have more tuning potential than a 998. It's just finding one for a decent price that's the problem, 1275 engines have gone through the roof price wise. Edited February 26, 2012 by Starion mod it with Nitrous Oxide and chassis dyno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starion Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 I said I bought a yellow 'tro in the cars found for sale thread, but here's a little update. The engine from the yellow Metro is very well specced with 1.51 roller tip rockers, a lightened and balanced flywheel, bigger inlet valves and a skimmed unleaded cylinder head, and a Kent cam. (266 or 276, not sure) This weekend I'm tearing thet engine out of the yellow one, and we're going to fit a spare 998 we bought into it, and then sell the whole car on. We could break it but that would be a proper shame because it's not that bad condition, and it has 12 months MOT. With any luck in the next two weeks I'm going to source a few more parts and I'm going to put that 1275 engine into the blue Metro. I'm going to fit an OEM MG Metro exhaust to the blue 'tro as the exhaust on the yellow one is rubbing against the hydrolastic pipe just as it did on my first Metro, it seems big bore exhausts don't fit properly on these cars without modifications to the suspension. mod it with Nitrous Oxide and chassis dyno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Couldn't get over the hideously ugly color of the yellow one, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cursed Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Couldn't get over the hideously ugly color of the yellow one, eh? Who can blame him? I think I actually prefer the pre-facelift headlights/front end of the beige one though. The neighbours must think you're insane with two Metros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starion Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 I'm starting to get used to the yellow paint, but those pictures flatter it quite a lot. I prefer nearly everything else about the blue one, and considering all the work I've done to it it'll be a shame to sell it so soon, so I'm finally gonna give it the engine it deserves. I do like the moody front end of the early Metro's too, plus they're so rare! The only MK1 Metro I've ever seen on the road is that yellow/beige one, haha. And yeah the neighbours probably think I'm nuts. mod it with Nitrous Oxide and chassis dyno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Couldn't get over the hideously ugly color of the yellow one, eh? Who can blame him? I think I actually prefer the pre-facelift headlights/front end of the beige one though. The neighbours must think you're insane with two Metros. Now your car with the yellow car's 1275 is something I'd really like to drive. Full on cone-dodging monster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starion Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Now your car with the yellow car's 1275 is something I'd really like to drive. Full on cone-dodging monster. YES I only drive a Metro because I can't afford to buy a decent Mini, and I would love a Mini with a fast engine like my 1275. Something like that will probably be my next purchase when I'm done with 'tros. mod it with Nitrous Oxide and chassis dyno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cursed Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Now your car with the yellow car's 1275 is something I'd really like to drive. Full on cone-dodging monster. Once my insurance has dropped I will probably either sell my Mini and buy a 1275 Cooper or do an engine swap. I heard off a Metro owner recently that they think the Metro will really take off as a classic this year just as the Mini has done. I'm not too sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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